Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Protectors of Time
by HiddenLayer5
Summary: Nearly three centuries have passed since the members of Wigglytuff's guild prevented the temporal disaster that threatened the Pokemon world. The present is prosperous, a fortunate opposite of the dark, amorphous future that was avoided. But now, are the orderly threads of time beginning to unravel once again?
1. Chapter 1: Temporal Sensors

A chime rang through the small, cramped room.

A figure rose slowly from the small bed in the corner, with yellow fur, large, pointed ears and a bushy tail. The Fennekin reached for the source of the racket, a tablet kept on the nightstand. She sat up, turning on the device and effecting a cessation of the noise. Light flooded the room as the fox Pokemon groggily scrolled through her inbox. Messages from friends, family and work appeared on screen, before they were extinguished by a disinterested press of the power button. Stuffing the tablet into her bag, she swung the carrying strap around her body and walked out of the room.

The Fennekin walked down the corridor, along with several other Pokemon. She didn't interact with them as they walked from their quarters to their various posts in the Temporal Observatory.

"Good morning, Kira!", a Vulpix called as the Fennekin walked into the mess hall.

"Morning Leslie.", she replied as she sat down beside the other fox Pokemon in the building.

"Happy Monday!", the Vulpix said.

"Happy?", Kira replied.

Leslie chuckled, "I see you haven't had your morning Chesto berry yet."

"At this point I think I need a reviver seed.", Kira groaned, biting into the aforementioned Chesto berry that she had grabbed from the table.

Leslie laughed, "Oh, come on! I remember you going on about how you always wanted to work at the Temporal Observatory when we were at the main guild."

"I do, just after twelve at noon.", Kira chuckled, "Speaking of, I should get to my post."

"Aren't you going to eat anything else?"

"Maybe later.", Kira said as she stood up, "I don't have much of an appetite in the morning."

Leaving the bustle of the mess hall behind, Kira walked into the quiet corridor. The white walls and floor led the way to the laboratory to which Kira was assigned. Walking up to the sliding glass door, she held the researcher badge that she wore on her scarf up to a small scanner affixed to the wall. A green light illuminated from under the scanner surface before the door opened.

A Sylveon waved to Kira as she entered, "Hey!", she said cheerfully.

"Hey.", Kira responded as she walked up to the long table at the front of the room, where a computer console was waiting for her. Once again scanning her badge, she sat down in front of the screen.

"Still working on that time flow analysis?", the Sylveon asked.

"Almost done. For some reason the data processing steps are taking a lot longer than usual.", Kira said, tapping commands into the screen.

"Need help?"

"I'm fine for now. Thanks, Ella."

The Sylveon smiled as she walked to her own console. Kira focused on the grid of numbers, symbols and color codes on her screen, methodically entering a new set of calculations for the computers to perform. She paused as the results appeared on screen.

"Ella?", she said.

"Huh?"

"On second thought, could you take a look at this? It doesn't seem right."

"What doesn't seem right?", the Sylveon said as she walked over to her collegue.

"I'm reading a resonant temporal variance in the local time stream."

"Let me see.", Ella said as she walked over to the Fennekin.

"See this?", Kira said, pointing to a box in the spreadsheet, "The local time stream is fluctuating at about three picoseconds from normal."

"No offense, but are you sure it's not a problem with your calculations?"

"I already checked my own work."

"Why don't I double check it for you? A fresh pair of eyes can't hurt.", the Sylveon offered.

"Thanks. While you do that, I'll go up to the temporal sensors and run a diagnostic on them. Let's make sure this isn't a glitch."

"Good idea.", Ella said, "Temporal variance actually occurring is pretty much unheard of, and if it's this severe already then there's definitely something wrong."

"I'll be back in a few minutes.", Kira said as she retrieved a diagnostics kit from a nearby drawer and left the room. As she made her way toward the tower which housed the all-important temporal sensors, she couldn't help but feel an uneasy feeling wash over her. Her job as a temporal researcher was to collect data on the flow of time and to investigate the physical mechanisms behind how it works, but to also stay alert for anomalies. Just like everyone else at the Temporal Observatory, she had studied the topic in detail and was always taught that temporal variance, where the rate at which time flows destabilizes and starts to fluctuate, is only possible in theory. She couldn't help but wonder that if what she observed was actually temporal variance, and what it meant for the stability of the time line.

Finally reaching the base of the tower, she scanned her badge in order to gain entry. Climbing into the tiny elevator that would take her to the top of the structure, she checked the equipment that she would need for her task, looking over the included checklist for performing a sensor diagnostic. A small beep caught her attention as the elevator doors opened to a small, cylindrical room. Mounted on the walls of the chamber were eight silver metal cylinders, arranged equal distance to each other. Translucent slits were cut lengthwise into the cylinders which emitted a dim blue glow.

Kira's attention was immediately drawn to one of the cylinders, whose glow flickered erratically like a defective lamp and produced an loud electrical fizzing sound. This differed from the other sensors, which were silent and were unchanging in their light output. Reaching for the diagnostics device, she straightened the two data cables affixed to it. Plugging one cable into her tablet, she took a step toward the faulty sensor and reached for the small data port at the base. Before she could react, a thin, blueish white spark jumped from the metal housing to her outstretched paw. Kira yelped as she felt a burning pain propagate from her paw to the rest of her body, like a metal spike was being driven into her paw and through the bone in her leg. She abruptly faded into unconsciousness a moment later.


	2. Chapter 2: A Rude Awakening

Kira woke up in a hospital bed. Looking around, she realized that her left paw was bandaged, and an IV needle was affixed to her right paw. Wires were attached to her head and chest, leading to a monitor that displayed her vital signs.

"Hello?", she called out. A moment later, a Chansey wearing a white lab coat entered the room.

"Welcome back, Miss Kira.", the Chansey said kindly.

"What happened?", Kira asked, confused.

"Your coworkers found you fainted and brought you here. You suffered a severe electrical shock and burns to your paw."

"Is this... Treasure Town?", she asked.

"Yes. You're in the Treasure Town General Hospital."

"Is she awake?", Kira heard a familiar voice from the hallway. Leslie and Ella soon rushed into the room.

"Kira!", Leslie shouted as she ran to her friend, "Are you okay?"

"I think so.", Kira replied, "What happened?"

"When you didn't didn't come back from the sensor tower, Ella got worried and went to look for you. She found you passed out on the floor, and we rushed you here."

"How long was I fainted?"

"Almost six hours.", the Chansey said.

Suddenly remembering what she was doing before she passed out, Kira sat up from the bed, "Ella, when you went into the sensor room, did you notice a malfunctioning temporal sensor?"

"Yeah. The one that was flickering."

"When I went to download the diagnostic data from it, it shocked me with some kind of electrical arc."

"We know.", Leslie said, "We shut down the sensor array and disconnected it. We still don't know what's wrong with it though."

"At least we know the temporal variance was a false alarm.", Kira sighed.

"Actually...", Ella interrupted, "We're still detecting it even with the faulty sensor disconnected. We're still trying to check the other sensors, make sure they're not outputting inaccurate data, but so far we've not found a single thing wrong with them."

"Seems like a coincidenence that a sensor blew out at the same time we started detecting the flux, though.", Kira wondered out loud.

"Yeah. So far none of us have been able to explain it. We'll need to run more tests."

"I'll help you.", Kira said as she stood up from the bed, but was soon stopped by the Chansey.

"Actually, Miss Kira, we're keeping you under observation until tomorrow.", the nurse said, "We want to make sure there wasn't any serious damage to your body."

"Why? I feel fine!", Kira inquired, "Fennekins battle electric-type Pokemon all the time, well not me personally, but..."

"That's true, but the shock you sustained wasn't from a Pokemon, so we can't assume you'll have the same tolerance to it.", the nurse said.

Kira nodded.

"Well, we'll be waiting for you back at the observatory.", Leslie said, "Take care, Kira!"

"Thanks. See you tomorrow."

Kira was released from the hospital at noon the next day, after having scheduled a follow-up appointment. She made her way to the outskirts of the bustling, historic city, returning to the Temporal Observatory. Upon entering, however, she could sense that something was wrong. The lab was in chaos as supplies was scattered everywhere. Leslie and Ella were running about, checking every drawer and compartment.

"Uh... hey! Is something wrong?", Kira asked.

"Kira!", Leslie called when she saw her, "You know the faulty sensor we were examining?"

"Yeah?"

"It's missing! Someone took it!"

"What?!"

"We had it in the lab yesterday, and when we got here this morning it flat out wasn't here!"

"Someone stole a broken temporal sensor that zaps Pokemon? Wait... the Temporal Observatory a restricted area! How could a thief even get in, let alone know that the sensor was in this lab? How would they even know what a temporal sensor is?!"

"We don't know! But whoever did this was also polite enough to wipe all the data we had collected about it!", Ella said angrily, throwing the data cable she was holding on the ground in frustration.


	3. Chapter 3: Debriefing

"So what do we know so far?", a Greninja asked, sitting at the end of a rectangular conference table. Joining him were the senior research staff at the Temporal Observatory, the most important of which, at least for this meeting, were Kira, Leslie and Ella.

"Kira, why don't you start?", the Greninja commanded.

"Well, on Monday we detected a resonant temporal variance of three picoseconds, and later that day we discovered that the fifth temporal sensor had suffered a hardware malfunction, the nature of which are still unknown.", Kira responded in a slightly exasperated tone. She knew what her supervisor was trying to do as it was the same whenever something went wrong at the Temporal Observatory. He was planning on blaming this incident on the research staff, more specifically he wanted them to unknowingly admit fault. No doubt he intended to take credit when and if this situation was resolved. The Greninja was assigned to the Temporal Observatory by the Treasure Town Guild only a month ago, following the retirement of the previous head of research. According to him, he had the duty of "keeping the scientists and nerds in check", even though it was only a temporary assignment until a more suitable replacement could be selected.

"We're still detecting the temporal variance.", Ella continued, "But it's been decreasing at a roughly linear rate. We think that the anomaly caused the flux occurred only for a very short time, during which it also damaged the sensor."

"You're forgetting the most important part.", the Greninja interrupted, "Where is the sensor now?"

Ella sighed, "It's currently missing."

"Stolen. Even though you were supposed to be guarding it.", the Greninja corrected.

"With all due respect, Mr. Barrett, that's the job of guild security, not the research staff. We had informed them that a temporal sensor was in the main lab undergoing repairs.", Leslie interjected.

"I'm sure that makes you feel better.", the Greninja said condescendingly, "Now why would someone want to steal a temporal sensor?"

"My guess is they're going to sell it.", a Rowlet sitting opposite to Kira, Leslie and Ella commented.

"The outer casing is made of platinum coated titanium, and the emitter element in the sensor contains a platinum rod, but even with the precious metals I doubt it's worth the risk of breaking into a guild-controlled restricted area. Temporal technology isn't exactly in high demand, either.", Kira said.

"Maybe they thought it was a lot more valuable than it is.", Ella added.

"Or maybe they really do need a temporal sensor for whatever they're doing.", the Rowlet said, "As far as I know, we have the most advanced sensors of all the temporal observatories and they're not sold on the open market."

"I just realized something!", Kira suddenly said, "We use active sensors as opposed to the traditional passive ones. Instead of statically measuring the time stream, they actually interact with it at the quantum level in order to measure a greater variety of data. The interactions don't affect or alter the time stream, but it's possible to modify the sensors so that this does happen."

"Then they would be considered temporal interfaces, which are illegal.", Ella added, "That's why you can't buy the temporal sensors we use unless you're conducting legitimate temporal research, and even then there are strict regulations on how they can be used."

"What are you saying?", Barrett asked, "Someone is trying to build a time machine?"

"Maybe.", Ella replied, "If they did steal a temporal sensor because they needed one then whatever they're doing probably isn't good."

"We should relay this incident to both guild security and the Treasure Town police.", Kira said, "The sooner we get an investigation started, the better."

"Look into that.", Barrett said, "Ella, Kira, Leslie, I want you three to prepare an official incident report for the main guild by tomorrow. The rest of you... do whatever it is you do, investigate the 'temporal variance' or something."

"There is another thing.", the Rowlet said, "We should get a replacement sensor. With one missing the system isn't at full resolution."

Barrett sighed, "Very well. You contact the guild and requisition a new sensor."

Exiting the conference room, Kira and Leslie walked back to their quarters.

"Ugh. Whenever I'm in that room with Barrett it's feels like I'm in a battle.", Kira complained to her friend.

"I get what you mean. I wish the guild would hurry up and find an actual head of research to lead this place. Barret doesn't know the first thing about temporal mechanics!", Leslie replied.

"Or science in general, or even manners!", Kira laughed.

"He obviously doesn't think very highly of us. Remember what he said last week?"

"You scientists are as naive as children sometimes! Real life isn't as simple as a bunch of numbers!", Kira said while imitating Barrett's voice. The incident in question had occurred after repeated attempts by the research staff to correct a misconception that Barrett held about temporal mechanics.

"How that fossil ever got assigned here us beyond me. Anyway, do you really think someone is trying to make a temporal interface?"

Kira raised her front legs in a shrug, "I don't know, but if they are then we, or I guess the guild, need to stop them."

"If someone was experimenting with temporal interfaces, where do you think they'd do it?"

"My guess? Probably at the bottom of some mystery dungeon. Those places are a haven for organized crime."

"I guess if the outside of your lair is constantly changing shape and layout then it's easier to hide."

"Mystery dungeons used to be filled with wild Pokemon who will attack you at a hair trigger. Now they're filled with gang members and narcotics dealers. Not sure which is worse."

"I wouldn't say they're filled with them. Most mystery dungeons are empty nowadays, it's just the really infamous ones that are bad."

"Still, I wouldn't risk going in there. Guilds used to make a fortune rescuing Pokemon from mystery dungeons because it's so easy to get lost or attacked."

"I guess you're right. Anyway, we should probably meet up with Ella since we have a report to write."

"Let's go."


	4. Chapter 4: Data Recovery

The next days were largely uneventful. The temporal variance had continued to dissipate, eventually dropping to nearly zero. Due to the reduced ability of the research team to gather new data as a result of the incomplete sensor array, the cause and precise nature of the temporal variance remained a mystery. With the defective sensor and the collected diagnostic data missing, the investigation into what damaged the sensor came to a halt.

"I've just spoken with the guild.", Ella said to the rest of the senior researchers in the conference room, "We've been scheduled a meeting with a data specialist ahead of the original schedule. He will attempt to recover the data the thief deleted from our servers, and we are to bring the affected data modules to the main guild building and meet with him in one hour."

"I'll round up the modules from the server room.", a Pidgeot said.

"Thanks, Franklin. I've also been informed that the replacement temporal sensor has been delivered to the guild building, so while we're there we'll check that it's in working order before it is delivered by secure courier to this facility.", Ella continued, "I'll need someone to help out with our tasks at the guild. Kira, do you mind coming along?"

"Not at all.", Kira said confidently.

"Alright! Kira, get your train pass, let's gather some of the equipment we'll need to test the new sensor, Franklin will pack up the data modules, and we'll leave in fifteen minutes. While we're at the guild, the rest of you continue your usual tasks, but when and if we recover the data we'll probably need help analyzing it. Let's get to the bottom of this as soon as we can!"

The research team left the room and made their way to various places in the building. Kira and Ella retrieved a diagnostic kit for the new sensor, and waited in the small lobby of the Temporal Observatory for Franklin.

"You know, the guild should just assign you as the new head of research.", Kira said to Ella.

Ella chuckled, "You think so?"

"Yeah! The staff briefing today was the first one that went smoothly since Barrett took over. You obviously have a knack for leading this team, and most importantly you know what you're talking about!"

Ella smiled, "I'll consider bringing it up with the guild."

"If you do decide to apply for the position, I'm sure a lot of the Pokemon here will vouch for you."

"Here are the data modules!", Franklin said as he walked into the lobby. "Be careful, they're somewhat delicate.", he gently placed a large, sturdy bag on the ground.

"Thanks, Franklin!", Ella said as she picked up the bag. Kira and Ella exited the building and walked toward the nearby metro station that would take them to the city. Being so far out in the outskirts of town, the metro station was hardly ever crowded even during the busiest of times, which Kira was always thankful for. Even though Kira, being a Fennekin, was small in size as far as Pokemon were considered, making it easier for her to find a spot on crowded trains, she still despised having to fight her way through crowds of Pokemon whenever she had to commute somewhere.

After only a few minutes, a train arrived on the platform which the two researchers boarded. Kira and Ella found a spot near the back of the compartment and set their luggage on the floor. Like most short-distance trains in the Pokemon world, this one was designed with only a few seats, with most compartments consisting of a large open space in order to accommodate the diverse shapes and sizes of Pokemon. Two smaller platforms designed for smaller flying-type Pokemon were installed close to the ceiling, and a series of rails were present throughout the interior for Pokemon to hold onto.

Kira and Ella sat silently on the floor as the train left the station. Ella wrapped one of her feelers around a safety rail, and another one held onto the bags that the two brought. Kira sat beside her, propping up her tablet on one of the bags as she looked over the new data that the research team had generated on the previous day. The train passed station after station, growing more crowded as it neared the downtown area. Before long, an automated voice was heard from the PA system: "The next station is Treasure Town Centre, the terminus station for this train."

As the doors opened, all of the Pokemon in the compartment stood up to disembark. Kira and Ella did the same. Exiting the large, multi-story station, they walked the short distance to the Treasure Town Guild, and a scan of their badges granted them access to the restricted areas of the building. In the large common area reserved for guild staff, a Dragonite greeted Kira and Ella.

"You two must be from the Temporal Observatory.", the Dragonite said, which Kira and Ella confirmed.

"My name is Jennings, and I will be working with you on recovering the lost data."

"Glad to hear!", Kira said cheerfully, "Should we get started?"

"Right away.", Jennings said as he led the temporal researchers to the lab where he worked.

"From what I gathered, the Temporal Observatory uses a data storage system called a redundant series, where an individual file is split ino equal portions and stored across several different data modules.", the Dragonite explained in a professional manner as the three arrived at the lab, "There is actually some overlap between each portion of the file in order to prevent the failure of one or two data modules from causing data loss, hence the name 'redundant' series. This property is also helpful in recovering deleted data, since a partially overwritten file can still be pieced together from the overlaps. Can I see the data modules comprise the affected series?"

"Sure!", Ella said as she used her feelers to lift the bag containing the data modules onto the table, "There are sixteen modules in total, and they should all be apart of the same series."

"Excellent. I will connect them and start my analysis. Can you specify which directory the deleted data was originally stored in?"

Kira and Ella looked at each other, pondering the question. "All the data should be under the folder called 'Hardware Troubleshooting'.", Ella began, "The most important file is called ' ', which contains everything that was in the faulty sensor's internal memory. It's important that we at least get this file back."

"I'll see what I can do.", Jennings said, retrieving a number of black, rectangular data modules from the bag and connecting them to the computer on the table, "But with any data recovery operation, there's no guarantee. I'll get to work, and I'll notify you two when I find something."

"Thanks, Jennings.", Ella said as the researchers left the lab. The researchers then made their way to the guild's receiving room to check the new temporal sensor.

"You know, I just realized exactly how unlucky we were?", Kira said as she connected the diagnostic device to the temporal sensor.

"What do you mean?", Ella said, bewildered.

"Think about it. The Temporal Observatory servers back up their data to the main guild every night, and then it's backed up a second time to the Lively Town Expedition Society every Monday. When the thief deleted the data on sensor five, it was before either scheduled backups could take place.", Kira said while typing into her tablet.

"What time are the backups made?", Ella asked.

"I think it's midnight for both locations."

Ella paused to think, "I remember working on the sensor with Leslie until about seven in the afternoon. So the thief had to have struck between seven and midnight."

"What kind of expert thief is this? They had to time it this well while avoiding guild security", Kira exclaimed.

"Maybe it's someone from the guild or even the observatory itself.", Ella mumbled.

"What?!"

"Look, I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying that someone who already has access from the lab would have a much easier time pulling it off."

Kira grew uncomfortable at the thought, "I guess. But why?"

"Who knows? Maybe there's a spy in the guild or something. Maybe this is all an elaborate prank.", the Sylveon said as she raised her front paws in a shrug, "It's honestly not our job to investigate this. Leave that to the police and guild security."

"I guess you're right. Anyway, I ran a full suite of diagnostics and this temporal sensor seems good.", Kira said, changing the subject.

"I guess we're done here. Let's go see if Jennings has recovered any data."

Walking back to the technology lab, Kira and Ella found the Dragonite standing in front of the computer. He wore a look of frustration on his face.

"How's it going?", Kira asked.

"Not well. Whoever did this was a pro.", Jennings sighed, "They did a pretty thorough job of erasing the data units."

"Did you find anything at all?", Ella asked with concern in her voice.

"Only bits and pieces. A few small files and fragments of larger ones."

"What about the file I told you about?", Ella asked.

"I managed to recover parts of it, about a gigabyte in total."

"Well, it's better than nothing.", Kira commented.

"Sorry I don't have better news.", Jennings said as he unplugged a smaller data module, "Here's what I recovered so far. I'll keep working, and if I recover any more I'll send it to the Temporal Observatory."

"Thanks.", Ella said as she grabbed the data module with her feeler, "Why would someone wipe our data like this?", she said in frustration.

"I wish I could answer that.", Jennings replied.

"So much of this don't make any sense!", Kira exclaimed, prompting a nod from the Sylveon.

"Well, we'd better get going. We should analyze what little data we have.", Ella said, placing the new data module in her bag, "Thank you for all your help, Jennings."

As they walked toward the exit, they heard commotion from the technology lab.

"Are they still here?", a voice was heard in the background.

"I think they're about to leave.", Jennings replied.

"Kira! Ella!", the researchers heard a familiar voice call out. Turning around, the realized that the voice belonged to a Raticate, who served as a coordinator for the guild.

"Kyle? What's going on?", Kira asked as the Raticate ran into the lobby, visibly out of breath.

"We've... just... got a message from our guild outpost at Shaymin Village. They've reported what they think are multiple temporal anomalies appearing within the past several hours. They've... asked the main guild to help investigate.", Kyle said.

"And you want us to go there?", Kira asked.

"Normally, we would send an entire research team to investigate a report of this nature, but since we've decided to place the Temporal Observatory on security alert, it would be best if as many researchers as possible stayed at the observatory to investigate the recent occurrences and to help guard the equipment, which as you know contains technology that is restricted to the public. We've decided to only send one researcher to Shaymin Village."

"I'll go.", Kira volunteered, "I've been there before and know a colleague at the outpost. I'll have an easier time finding my way around."

"Thanks Kira. You'll leave tomorrow morning via the new hover train line. I'll forward the train ticket and briefing documents to your inbox.", Kyle said.

As they left the guild, Kira and Ella felt a mutual wave of uneasiness.

"Shaymin Village? What do you think is going on there?", Ella asked.

"I don't know, but something tells me it's connected to what's going on here.", Kira replied.


	5. Chapter 5: Shaymin Village

"Train 1804 to Shaymin Village is now arriving at platform 2.", a voice announced to the station. Kira rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes and followed the small crowd of Pokemon as they stood up and proceeded toward the train, somewhat struggling to lift the large bag of equipment she brought for her assignment.

"Boarding pass?", the clerk behind the counter said as Kira approached the doorway to the platform. Kira held up her tablet which displayed her ticket.

"Identification?", the clerk asked. In response, Kira handed him her Pokemon ID card, the card that was issued by the Pokemon government to all of its citizens. The clerk scanned both the ticket and the card, and checked the result on his screen.

"Your seat is 34B in compartment 10.", the clerk said as pressed a button on the table. The door to the platform opened, which Kira walked through. Walking along the platform, she watched as the hover train pulled into the station. As its name suggested, the long train floated a short distance above the newly constructed track. The hover train project was the latest in transportation advancements developed by Pokemon, promising higher speeds and efficiency than even the hovercraft, which used a similar technology but was limited in capacity to a few individuals. Kira thought it was fitting that she was going to Shaymin Village, one of the first lines that opened, since the technology was both inspired by and similar to the mechanism that allow Shaymin to float in the air.

Finding the tenth compartment of the train, she turned to enter the cabin. Making her way through the quiet bustle to her seat, she heaved her bag into the compartment attached to the ceiling. The seat she was given was considered "medium-size", appropriate for a Fennekin and other similarly sized Pokemon. Be it a quadrupedal Pokemon like Kira, or any one of the many Pokemon body shapes, the seats on the train were designed to allow all passengers to be comfortable in their natural sitting positions. Kira settled into her seat and unfolded the small table in front of her. Taking out her tablet and a Chesto berry from the small work bag she kept at her side, she reviewed the briefing documents one more time while munching on her impromptu breakfast. A few minutes later, a soft whirring sound was heard as the train started moving.

Kira looked out the large glass window as the train passed through a spacious grassland. Wild grasses and flowers stretched to the horizon, with the nearby vegetation amalgamating into a greenish blur from her perspective. Wild bushes bearing Oran and Pecha berries spotted the ground, and some distance away, a standard railroad track ran parallel to the hover rail Kira was on. Despite her worry of what she might find in Shaymin Village, she couldn't help but marvel at the landscape before her eyes. Having spent most of her life in urban areas, she doesn't have many opportunities to be in nature, and though she rarely minded this fact and preferred the technology-laden city life, natural landscapes still mesmerized her whenever she had the chance to see them.

Kira occupied herself by looking outside the window and catching up on some on her guild work on her tablet. It was early afternoon when the train began to slow.

"We are now approaching Shaymin Village.", a voice announced over the PA, "When disembarking, please ensure that you take all luggage with you and that your belongings are not left behind. Remember to check the seat pocket in front of you. If you are a connecting passenger, please have your boarding pass and government issued identification ready in order to board your next train. The current time in Shaymin Village is 1:15 PM."

"Plus or minus a few picoseconds.", Kira thought to herself when the time was mentioned.

"We thank you for choosing the hover train, have a safe and cheerful day!", the announcement concluded, followed by the train stopping a moment later. Kira placed her tablet back in her work bag, stood up to retrieve the equipment bag, and quickly exited the train.

"Kira!" a voice called as Kira walked onto the platform. Kira looked to see a Espeon waiting for her, and was wearing the same guild badge as she was.

"Ezri!", Kira said excitedly as she ran to the Espeon, "It's been a while, how have you been!".

"I've been fine.", Ezri said, "Here, let me give you a paw with that.", she pointed to Kira's equipment bag.

"Thanks.", Kira smiled as she gave the Espeon the bag.

"Still haven't evolved, I see.", Ezri joked as the two left the station.

Kira chuckled, "Haven't leveled up since I last saw you either. You know I don't concern myself with battling."

"Speaking of", Ezri said cheerfully, "I read an article the other day about how the battling paradigm is ending. You're twenty five years old, right? And you're at level what? Five?"

"Yeah, twenty five, and level five give or take. I haven't even bothered to buy a level tester so I don't know the exact number. I'm just not interested in being knocked unconscious when I don't have to."

Ezri laughed, "To be fair, I'm not too keen on battling either, so I understand your point."

"Right?", Kira exclaimed, "Battling came from a time where Pokemon had to compete for food and habitat. How it became and still is a widely accepted sport is beyond me."

"Well, at least we have rules now to ensure Pokemon aren't permanently injured in battle, not to mention you're only allowed to battle Pokemon if they agree to."

"I still think it's stupid and unbecoming of a civilized society."

"Remember during year two at the guild, when the rules were updated so you could opt out of battle training if you were an apprentice for things like science or engineering?"

"Yeah?"

"I distinctly remember walking by the opt out sheet one day and you were literally the first one to write your name on it.", Ezri said with a slight laugh.

Kira chuckled, "And good riddance!"

Lost in their conversation, the pair soon realized that they had arrived at the guild outpost.

"This is Benton, our new outpost director.", Ezri said, gesturing to the Sky Forme Shaymin beside her.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kira from the Temporal Observatory.", Kira said, shaking paws with the Shaymin.

"Thank you for coming, Kira. I take it that you've read about what's going on?", Benton said.

"Yes.", Kira replied, "There have been local temporal anomalies?"

"We first noticed it when clocks started going out of sync", Ezri said, "and then we got reports of sounds echoing, things falling at abnormal speeds and of these veins in the air where it looked like the light passing through them was being refracted by a lens. The would appear and disappear throughout the day. Needless to say it's gotten everyone worried."

"Sounds like the speed of the time stream here isn't uniform.", Kira commented, "I'd like to perform a time-flow analysis with the portable scanner, but we'll need to go around the village in a particular search pattern."

"I can take you in the hovercraft, I'd imagine it would be much faster than walking around.", Ezri said.

"Thanks. Let's go do that right now.", Kira said, feeling the uneasiness return to her. Though she was familiar with the theoretical and mathematical aspects of temporal instability, neither she nor any of her colleagues have had ever seen visible temporal anomalies before. Truthfully, she had no idea what her analysis was going to reveal, but she suspected that it wouldn't bode well.


	6. Chapter 6: Temporal Interface

"So tell me, Kira.", Ezri said as she piloted the hovercraft over the mountainous village, with the Fennekin sitting beside her, "Why are temporal interfaces illegal? I mean, we have time traveling Pokemon like Celebi, and even Pokemon that can directly control time like Dialga, and I assume they'd have to interact with the time stream in some way, right? Wouldn't they basically be living temporal interfaces?"

"They pretty much are living temporal interfaces...", Kira replied while typing into het tablet, the portable temporal sensor that was connected to it propped up on the small dashboard in front of her, "but other than I guess Dialga or Arceus they can't usually interact with the time stream in a way that damages it, not to mention you can't just outlaw an entire species of Pokemon, especially not the legendary ones."

Ezri chuckled at the obvious statement.

"A Pokemon's temporal ability is usually physically limited by its body or limited in the sense that someone like Dialga or Arceus probably, hopefully, won't decide to damage the time stream.", Kira continued, "A mechanical temporal interface that is computer controlled, however... It's like a miniature Dialga that can be mass produced and can do whatever the user pleases. It doesn't have the ability to determine if what it's doing is dangerous, so it's up to the user to decide what not to do."

"And the government doesn't trust just any Pokemon to not damage the time stream?", the Espeon asked.

"Exactly."

"Then why not just limit what a 'consumer' temporal interface can do?"

"They could, but I assume they don't want to risk those mechanisms being bypassed. It's safer to just not let such powerful devices be out in the wild.", Kira said.

"Good point.", Ezri said, "You know, this whole thing reminds me of the time gear incident three hundred years ago."

"What incident?", Kira asked curiously.

Ezri took on a surprised expression, "You don't know this? It was that whole thing where a human somehow time traveled to... the year two hundred and something, and supposedly saved the time stream from being destroyed. It happened at our guild!"

"Oh, that? I do remember learning about it, but it was never more than a footnote in the temporal mechanics textbooks because it was so poorly documented."

"Don't tell me you never learned about the time gears."

"Are they what was used to regulate the time stream during the fragmentary era?"

"Yeah!"

"Officially they're referred to as temporal synchronization nodes. Is 'time gear' what they were called back then?"

"Yeah, I guess because they resemble mechanical gears."

"Hang on...", Kira suddenly said, "I'm detecting something."

"What?", the Espeon asked.

"Resonant temporal variance, just like we detected in treasure town... I'm trying to calculate the source."

Kira typed into her tablet for a while before tilting the screen toward Ezri, "Got it! Head for these coordinates, carefully!"

The pair soon saw a small, secluded shack in the middle of a forest. As they got closer, Kira could see the visual distortions Ezri had told her about. Thin bands of the air seemed "broken", in that when looking through them, the images that were seen didn't line up with the rest of the landscape, instead appearing slightly shifted or refracted.

"Be careful not to touch the distortions.", Kira said, "There's probably a lot of temporal shear."

"Temporal shear?", Ezri asked curiously, "What's that?"

"My sensor is reading that the time stream in those anomalous areas are slowed down, and temporal shear force is created at the border between time frames.", Kira explained, "As you cross from the normal time frame to the distorted one, the different speeds of time causes molecules in one time frame to move faster than than the other, which can cause things to rip themselves apart."

"I'll keep that in mind.", Ezri said nervously as she looked for a place to land. After the hovercraft touched down, Ezri followed Kira to the building where the temporal variances appeared to originate.

"What is this building?", the Fennekin asked.

"An electrical substation.", the Espeon replied, "I think this one supplies power to the southern parts of the village.

"Who owns it?", Kira asked.

"The Pokemon Utility Service, I think."

As Kira and Ezri approached the building, which was painted green and brown to blend into the natural landscape, they found that the door had been left slightly open.

"Should we go in?", Kira asked.

"I mean, the door's open isn't it?", Ezri said.

"No, I meant are we allowed to?", the Fennekin corrected.

"I don't see why not. The guild's authorized by the government to conduct official investigations, and that's what we're doing."

Kira shrugged, and gently pulled the door open. Inside, they found electrical equipment as expected for a substation, but the floor was a mess. Electrical cables, components and tools were strewn about, forcing Kira and Ezri to watch where they stepped in the dimly lit room to avoid tripping.

"There's definitely something here.", Kira said, stopping to look at her tablet, the portable scanner in her bag, continuing to collect data.

"Something like a temporal interface?", Ezri asked, "If there is, then it's probably causing..."

"Watch out!", Kira shouted, pulling on the Espeon's tail in order to stop her. The fur on the side of the Espeon's head grazed the border of a temporal distortion, barely visible in the darkness. Ezri jumped back, several strands of fur that had crossed the temporal boundary detached from the unaffected fur, and fell to the ground within the distortion.

"Ow!", Ezri shouted, rubbing her head where fur had been pulled from her skin.

"Could have been worse.", Kira said lightheartedly, trying to conceal her nervousness. Her friend could easily have been killed just then.

"Thanks, Kira.", Ezri said as the two walked cautiously past the anomaly.

A blue light soon caught Kira's eye. She looked, and those already large eyes instantly widened in a confused and frightened stare. Sitting at the base of a large electrical transformer was a familiar silver cylinder, with translucent stripes that emitted a dim blue glow.

"Kira?", Ezri asked nervously, "Is that... Is that a temporal interface?"

"A temporal sensor, but... I'll bet it's been turned into an interface.", Kira said, "Hang on...", Kira slowly walked toward the sensor, being extremely careful to check for temporal anomalies in her path. The sensor stood upright at roughly a meter tall and ten centimeters wide, and had two cables connected to it: a large power cable that was wired into the transformer, and a much smaller data cable attached to a wireless receiver and antenna. Ezri soon brought out her tablet and decided to take pictures of the scene. She figured it was a good idea to document the original state of the temporal interface for the police investigation that was sure to occur.

"Looks like this sensor, or probably, temporal interface, is receiving power from the substation and is being controlled remotely.", Kira stated before pausing to check the data her tablet had collected, "We need to deactivate it! It's definitely a temporal interface and it's definitely what's causing these anomalies!", a sense of urgency suddenly making itself audible in her voice.

"Is that a good idea? I mean...", Ezri began.

"Unless you want this thing to continue damaging the time stream and terrorizing the town.", Kira interrupted.

"Right. Stupid question.", Ezri said apologetically, "So is there an on-off switch... or what? How do we turn it off?"

"We'd probably have to disconnect the power cable.", Kira said as she inspected the wiring connections. Remembering how she was shocked by the sensor at the Temporal Observatory and with the assumption that this was likely the same sensor, she made sure to stay far away from the metal housing of the sensor.

"We're in luck!", Kira said as she pointed to a small panel beside the transformer, "Looks like there's a switch for the circuit rail the sensor is connected to.", Kira placed her paw on the circuit breaker.

"Here goes...", Kira said with a nervous sigh, "One... Two... Three!"

A loud click echoed through the room as Kira toggled the switch. The sensor's glow dimmed before extinguishing. Kira and Ezri remained silent for several moments.

"We didn't cause a blackout, did we?", Ezri said with a forced chuckle, trying in vain to lighten the mood.

"Hopefully not.", Kira said.

"So is it off? The sensor, I mean."

"Think so...", Kira responded, "We could check that the temporal anomalies are gone."

Kira and Ezri turned to the corner where they saw the temporal distortion. Kira picked up her tablet and portable sensor and pointed the sensor at the corner.

"No unusual short-range or long-range readings.", Kira said with a sigh of relief. Ezri threw a crumpled piece of paper from her bag at the corner just to be sure. It was not affected and simply bounced off the wall.

"So... What do we do now?", Ezri said.

"Inform the guild and the police! Using a temporal interface without government permission is a federal offence!"

The police showed up in short order after Kira and Ezri's initial call. Several guild officials also arrived who replaced Kira and Ezri at the crime scene. Kira and Ezri spent the rest of the day answering questions and writing reports. As it turned out, the sensor they had found was indeed the same sensor that was stolen. The Temporal Observatory was tasked with the technical aspects of the investigation, and that the sensor would be delivered to them. Kira voiced her concerns about returning the sensor to the observatory, as that was where it was stolen from, and despite being assured that the necessary security arrangements would be made, she still insisted on downloading the contents of the onboard computer onto her tablet, so at least that would be saved if the sensor went missing again.

The sensor was shipped out via secure courier that night, after Kira had duplicated its built-in data module onto her tablet. Kira's scheduled to return to Treasure Town by hover train early next morning, and she spent the night in a guest room at the guild outpost. She didn't sleep very well, instead, she stayed up for half the night examining the data from the modified sensor. She took note that the sensor's firmware had been heavily modified, with all of the programs responsible for ensuring that the sensor did not function as a temporal interface removed. In fact, most of the science related programs were missing, replaced by a custom executable file, which whoever set up the temporal interface undoubtedly made. Kira made a note to ask Jennings to take a look at the files. Maybe he could figure out what exactly the temporal interface was programmed to do.

Checking the operational logs, she noticed that one of the two emitters, which were the components that could become temporal interfaces, had been removed.

Kira felt a cold chill run down her spine. Whoever did this still had one more temporal interface.


	7. Chapter 7: Derailed Plans

Kira rested her head on the foldable table in front of her seat as the rest of the passengers boarded the hover train. The sky outside was still a dark navy blue, the sun barely peeking out of the mountains. The air conditioning in the cabin felt unusually cold on Kira's fur, causing her to shiver slightly.

"Excuse me!", Kira heard a voice. Turning her head, she saw a pair of Raticate and several smaller Ratatta.

"Sorry to bother you.", the male Raticate said, "But would you mind switching seats so our family can sit together?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure!", Kira said, managing a smile despite her drowsy, half-conscious state. Grabbing her work bag and retrieving the equipment bag from the overhead compartment, she proceeded toward the seat that the father Raticate showed her to.

"Thank you.", the male Raticate said as Kira settled into her new seat in the back of the compartment.

"No problem!", Kira said cheerfully. The train left the station soon after.

Kira grabbed the blanket provided by the train company from the seat pocket in front of her. Freeing it from its thin plastic packaging, she wrapped the blanket around herself as she curled up in the seat. She hadn't even bothered with eating a Chesto berry this morning, which would have provided her with the energy she needed to stay awake. She was just going to sleep through the trip home.

A loud rattling woke Kira from her sleeping status condition. Dazed, she looked around, and realized that the train was shaking violently. Concerned voices were barely audible through the racket, which grew in volume as the shaking grew in intensity. Before Kira was fully awake, the train jolted violently backward as a nearby explosion could be heard amid the panicked screaming. Kira's head was flung forward by the rapidly decelerating train. The last thing she saw was the inside of the cabin filling with sunlight as the hull of the train was split open, before her face met the back of the seat in front of her. Pain shot across her face as her nose slammed into the hard plastic. Her forehead soon repeated her nose's trajectory as her entire body was thrown forward by its own inertia. She felt the second impact ring through her skull as if it was a bell.

Metallic scraping pierced the ears of the passengers as the hover train lost power and slammed onto the track it was floating on. The runaway train was then torn from its track and slid widthwise across the grassy meadow, tearing up strips of soil from the once pristine covering of vegetation before the metal machine finally came to a stop.

Gathering all of her strength, Kira pushed herself off the table and slumped back into her seat. She raised her head to check her surroundings, and saw only chaos in the once quiet train car. Adding to that, something about the image her eyes rendered didn't seem right.

Kira squinted, and realized that the scene directly in front of her was refracted. Corrupted by a temporal distortion that had filled the cabin. Kira's heart sank as she saw several Pokemon were about to cross the anomaly to reach their loved ones.

"Don't... do not touch the distortions! they're... they're temporal anomalies... and are extremely dangerous!", Kira tried her best to shout through through the pandemonium. Despite her weakened state, she managed to capture the attention of some of the nearby Pokemon. One Pokemon ignored her warning and placed his paw on the distortion, which started bleeding as soon as it made contact.

Kira felt dizzy from the hard hit to her head, and her vision soon began to blur. "Don't... touch... don't touch the... temporal...", she tried repeating, but fainted before she could finish her sentence.

Kira awoke on a tarp laid across the grass, with the roof of a white tent overhead. She looked, and saw an Audino looking over her. She wore a nurse's cap and held a medical tablet.

"Welcome back.", the Audino said kindly. Kira felt something in her paw. Holding it up, she realized it was a spent Reviver seed.

"Where... Where am I?", Kira tried to sit up, but suddenly winced and gripped her head as she felt a wave of dull pain rush over her brain.

"Whoa there!", the nurse said, easing the Fennekin's head back onto the tarp, "You've suffered significant head trauma, so you probably shouldn't move round right now. You're in a medical tent. We rescued you from the train derailment."

"Thank you...", Kira said weakly.

"You're the Pokemon who warned everyone not to touch the temporal anomaly, right?", the Audino asked.

"Yeah.", Kira replied, only now remembering.

"It's a good thing you did, too! If you hadn't, Pokemon might have tried to run through it. You most likely saved a few lives today. We should be thanking you!"

The next few hours were a blur for Kira, who was still woozy from her head injury. She remembered being loaded onto a hovercraft and flown to the Treasure Town hospital, the second time in two weeks she'd been there.

"Hey, sleepy head!", Leslie said as she entered the hospital room, waking Kira from her pain-induced sleep. The Vulpix had a tray of food balanced on her head, "The doctor told me you're here! How are you feeling?"

"I've been better.", Kira said.

"Need some company?", Leslie said cheerfully.

"That would be nice. Thank you."

Leslie smiled as she sat down beside the bed, setting the tray on a nearby table.

"When I had to stay here a year ago, I remembered how terrible the food was, so I brought you some real food!", Leslie said as she gently handed Kira a bowl, "Vegetable soup! Your favorite! I also brought you a Perfect apple!"

Kira smiled for the first time since the train crash occurred, "Thank you, Leslie!", she said.

"Don't mention it! I would have brought you a Chesto berry but the doctor wouldn't let me. Said that you're in no condition to be consuming stimulants, not even natural ones.", Leslie said with a light chuckle, "So, what's the prognosis? You'll be okay, right?"

"Hopefully.", Kira said, "They've scheduled a Psychic Pokemon to do a full cognitive assessment tomorrow, make sure I don't have brain damage."

"They really think you might have brain damage?!", Leslie suddenly said, growing very concerned.

"The doctor says he doesn't expect to find anything serious. It's just a precaution because apparently I hit my head really hard."

"I hope they don't find anything. What a waste it would be if a brain like yours were damaged.", Leslie said, relaxing somewhat.

"So what's been going on at the observatory?", Kira asked.

Leslie sighed, "We lost the temporal sensor. Again."

"Lost it?"

"The freight train carrying it also got hit with temporal anomalies. Apparently the wreckage got looted before rescuers could arrive, and someone took the sensor."

"So much for 'secure' courier.", Kira joked.

"Oh, and we had to sit through another one of Barret's famous tirades!", Kira said, growing audibly annoyed, "He actually wanted you to work from the hospital! Can you believe that guy?!"

"So are you also here to bring me my tablet so I can get to work?", Kira asked jokingly.

"Of course not! Ella and I told him to shove it or else we're reporting him to the Labor Commission! I'm pretty sure it's against the law to make a Pokemon in your condition work."

"As much as I hate him, are you sure that's a good idea?", Kira asked, concerned for Leslie, "I doubt he's going to take this sitting down. What if he takes it out on you or Ella?"

"Then we actually report him, both to the Labor Commission and the guild. He's already pushing the limits of what an employer is legally allowed to do!"

Kira mustered a shrug, despite not fully being able to move.

"You know, your decision to download the filesystem from the sensor really helped. We don't have the actual sensor anymore, but Ella and Jennings worked all day decompiling files, and we actually made some progress in finding out what the temporal interface was doing!"

"Guess my hunch proved true after all.", Kira smiled.

"One other thing I've been thinking...", Leslie said, "What are the odds that temporal distortions would hit both your train and the train that had the sensor?!"

"Has there been reports of other temporal anomalies?"

"Not really, which makes me think this isn't random."

"You know, Leslie...", Kira said nervously, "I switched seats with someone when I boarded the train. I got moved from the middle of the compartment to the very back, and I remember that the temporal distortion hit somewhere in the front half of the car... If I hadn't switched seats...", she paused with a long sigh, "They'd probably still be scraping pieces of me off the wreckage."


	8. Chapter 8: Demonstration

"Relax, and close your eyes.", a Meowstic said as he pressed a small sensor to Kira's forehead. A data cable connected the sensor to the medical tablet the Meowstic was holding, while a second cable connected the tablet to a clip that was attached to the underside of the Meowstic's folded ear, where the organs that gave the cat-like Pokemon his psychic powers were located.

"Repeat the following phrase in your head: 'The quick brown Vulpix jumped over the lazy Growlithe'.", the Meowstic instructed. Kira did so silently, while Leslie smiled while sitting beside the Fennekin.

"Now, visualize a circle.", the neurologist continued, "Now visualize a sphere, and then a cube." Kira did as she was told, and the Meowstic's tablet beeped each time she did one of the tasks.

"Open your eyes, and look around you.", the Meowstic said, and Kira opened her eyes in response.

"Close your eyes again, and answer the following questions. What is your name and species?"

"Kira, Fennekin."

"What is the date?"

"July 19, the year 541, according to the new calendar."

"Where are you right now?"

"The Treasure Town General Hospital."

"What is the square root of nine?"

"Three."

The Meowstic removed the sensor from Kira's forehead, "All right. I've collected all of the data I need. I'll be done with the analysis in about one hour. In the meantime, Kira, why don't you take a walk outside the hospital? You should get some fresh air after staying in this room for a whole day." The neurologist left the room.

"That was surprisingly quick.", Leslie commented, "I expected a cognitive analysis to take a lot longer."

"I wonder if it's the sensor doing most of the work or the Meowstic with his psychic powers.", Kira replied.

"I don't know. Though he had that clip thing attached to his ear, so his telepathy ability must have some involvement. Anyway, we have an hour before your results come back. Let's hang out in the town centre!"

"Actually, I should probably catch up on my work.", Kira said, reaching for her tablet.

"Come on, Kira! Doctor's orders!", Leslie said as she snatched the tablet away, "Barret can survive without you doing the assignments he didn't do and pushed on you today."

Kira laughed while jumping off the hospital bed, "All right. Let's go!"

When they exited the hospital, Kira and Leslie were greeted with a large gathering of Pokemon in the town square. Many were holding up signs and many more were chanting a rhyme at the pedestrians in the town center.

"Ugh. Is that what I think it is?", Kira said.

"Yup, looks like it. One of those 'Keep Pokemon battles a thing! It's tradition!' demonstrations.", Leslie said, exasperated, "They're becoming more and more common.".

"Let's just avoid it, and go to the...", Kira's suggestion was cut short by one of the protesters, walking toward them, a somewhat elderly Pokemon who holding up a stack of pamphlets.

"Excuse me, do you young Pokemon participate in battles?"

"No.", Kira said unapologetically.

Leslie chuckled at Kira's bluntness, though she expected it. "Not really.", she finally answered.

"In that case, you two will benefit from taking a look at this.", the Pokemon held out two pamphlets, "It describes how the tradition of battling benefits Pokemon and why it's a problem that it's becoming less common. You can also find us online at..."

"Thanks, but we'll be fine without this 'tradition'.", Kira interrupted as the pair walked away. Kira was relieved that the protester got the message that they weren't going to be persuaded.

"Every other time I come to the town centre!", Kira exclaimed as they walked away from the crowd.

Leslie laughed, "And every time they realize that they picked the wrong Pokemon to mess with!"

"I just wish they'd mind their own business. No one is telling them to not battle, so stop telling us to!"

"I guess most of them can't get over the fact that we're 'destroying tradition'", Leslie said with fake panic in her voice, "but honestly I agree with you."

"I really hate it when they use the 'tradition' excuse. I mean, there was a time when different Pokemon species had predator-prey relationships! So should we bring that 'tradition' back?!"

"The fact is that the battling paradigm is ending no matter how much they protest.", Leslie said, "You might be a bit of an extreme example, but you're not alone. I'm not that interested in battling either, and neither is Ella and most Pokemon our age."

"Metathesiophobia. The fear of change.", Kira commented.

Kira and Leslie stopped for breakfast at a nearby restaurant before returning to the hospital.

"Well, the good news is that you don't have permanent brain damage.", the Meowstic said.

"And the bad news?", Kira asked.

"The bad news is that you do require treatment for the harm that your brain did sustain."

"How bad is the damage that I do have?", Kira asked, concerned.

"Fortunately, the damage is minimal, and the treatment will be mostly precautionary. I'm prescribing you some medication, which will speed up the healing process. In addition to the medication, be sure to avoid doing anything that may result in further head trauma. Oh, and no Pokemon battles for at least the next week."

"You don't have to worry about me battling!", Kira laughed slightly.

"Excellent.", the neurologist said, "We're keeping you under observation until tonight, and then you'll be free to go home."


	9. Chapter 9: Past Conversations

"We still don't have the replacement sensor?!", Kira sighed.

"No, and we haven't heard from the guild either.", Ella said, "They should have delivered it yesterday."

Kira sighed again, "At this point I wonder if we should just go to the guild and get it ourselves."

"That's actually not a bad idea.", Leslie added, "I mean, sure there are security issues but we could borrow a guild hovercraft and fly it to the observatory, under the observation of multiple guild members."

"It's better than waiting around doing nothing.", Kira said, "We need the eighth sensor to have full coverage of the time stream. For all we know right now, there could be temporal anomalies right in the lobby!"

"I'll contact the guild and see if they'll let us pick it up.", Ella said, "Oh and... I believe the regulations say that we would also need to inform the head of research."

Leslie groaned, "Do we have to? I doubt Barrett would even understand what we plan to do, much less be qualified to comment on it."

"And I can imagine he'll just be annoyed that we had the 'audacity' to annoy him with such a 'scientific' matter.", Ella said sarcastically.

"Lets just tell him. At least then he can't say we broke regulations.", Kira sighed, "Leslie, do you want to come with me to provide backup?"

"Sure, let's get this over with.", Leslie said as she followed Kira out of the lab.

Walking toward the Greninja's office, the two fox Pokemon heard their supervisor's voice, clearly in the middle of a heated argument.

"Maybe this isn't a good time?", Kira whispered.

Peeking past the wall and looking through the sliding glass door, Kira could see that Barrett was sitting at his desk, talking at his tablet. Kira listened, and one sentence caught her attention.

"...and now they suspect something! I told you not to go after her!", the voice shouted through the tablet.

Kira retracted her head from the door and looked at Leslie.

"You'd be surprised at how meddlesome she can be!", Barrett shouted.

"We've been over this! One derailment and it'll seem like an accident, more than that and those scientists are going to start analyzing what's happening!"

"And I've told you that we need to get rid of that Fennekin! She's messed with our operation from day one!"

"The only reason she had the chance to interfere is because you configured the temporal sensor improperly and it shocked her! And she's not even dead after your latest scheme, but twenty four other Pokemon are! So great job on that! Get your act together, Barrett! This is my second time trying to destroy time after that half-witted human stopped me, and I don't plan on failing again because of your incompetence!"

Kira and Leslie bolted back down the hallway, being careful to make as little noise as possible. They sprinted all the way back to the lab and immediately told Ella what they had heard.

"Barrett tried to kill Kira?! Are you certain he said what you heard?", Ella exclaimed as the two out of breath Pokemon finished telling her.

"That's what he was screaming into his tablet!", Kira said, audibly panicking.

"Yeah, it turns out he's not an idiot, he's a terrorist! He's behind the temporal anomalies and the missing sensor!", Leslie added.

"I don't feel safe staying here anymore. I'm getting a hotel room tonight.", Kira said.

"I don't blame you, and I think that's the smart thing to do.", Ella said.

"Kira, I'm staying with you.", Leslie said, "We'll figure this out together."

Kira smiled slightly, "Thanks, Les."

"I'll stay at the observatory and, well, observe Barrett and whatever else is going on here."

As soon as the work day ended, Kira and Leslie got on the metro and headed for Treasure Town. Kira had booked a hotel room with two beds in the town centre. She figured that it would be safer to stay in the most populated part of the city.

"What are you searching for?", Leslie asked, sitting up from her bed.

"You know how the other Pokemon on the communications channel said something about a human stopping him?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, the human was supposedly a guild member. I'm searching the guild database for information on it."

"Didn't all that happen three hundred years ago?"

"Around then."

"So that would make it before the new calendar and unified government?"

"It was before the Treasure Town Guild! I think it was called... Chatot's Guild? No, Wigglytuff's Guild."

"Found anything?"

"A little. Basically the records at that time show that a Mudkip and Eevee joined the guild, and the Mudkip turned out to be a human that became a Pokemon through a time travel accident. They stopped a Pokemon... a Dusknoir, and prevented a temporal decohesion event in the future."

"So this Dusknoir was the Pokemon Barrett was talking to?"

"Maybe... Wait, there's a footnote... No, apparently another Pokemon masterminded the attack, and... that's all the information in the database."

"If it's that old, it's probably still in the paper archives.", Leslie commented.

"I thought they were digitizing all the old records."

"They probably haven't gotten to documents from that long ago yet. So you think this unknown Pokemon is trying to destroy time again?"

"It's the best explanation so far. I feel like if we can find out who he is, we might be able to figure out a way to stop them."

"Shouldn't we be calling the police about this?"

"We probably should, but we need more evidence other than what we heard! Right not it'll be our word against Barrett's, and the most the police can probably do is ask him some questions, and then he'll probably know that we're onto him."

"I wish we had recorded the conversation!", Leslie exclaimed.

"Neither of us had our tablets with us.", Kira sighed, "I think right now our best bet is to keep calm and find out everything we can about the Pokemon who masterminded the last temporal disaster. Ella is at the observatory keeping a lookout for anything suspicious, and we need to find enough evidence for when we report to the police, so they'll at least issue a search warrant."

"All right. Let's go to the guild first thing tomorrow and search through the paper archives!", Leslie said.


	10. Chapter 10: The Archives

The next day was uneventful, giving Yuri some time to rest. The day after, however, exactly four days to the second after the first incident, temporal distortions tore through another mystery dungeon. Four days after that, another incident. Thankfully, both incidents took place in uninhabited mystery dungeons, which supported the hypothesis that they were not designed to cause immediate harm, but were for a purpose no one had yet to figure out.

Yuri walked to the common area as he thought about the items on his schedule. It had been almost two weeks since the first temporal incident on Mount Bristle. The Riolu checked his tablet for updates often, holding his breath in the event of another crisis. This morning, his notification screen displayed one scheduled meeting with the temporal staff. Seeing the upcoming debriefing scheduled, Yuri started to walk toward the correct room in the guild building.

Kira was sitting onstage setting up the presentation equipment, her face showed a subtle but uncharacteristic expression of worry, frustration and hopelessness. Yuri walked up to her, subconsciously gravitating to her emotional distress.

"Hey, you need a paw with that?" He asked, gesturing vaguely to the equipment Kira was setting up.

"I'm almost done, but thank you." Kira sighed weakly, "All right. Time to sound stoic and professional. Let's get this over with."

Yuri nodded and attempted a comforting smile before going to sit.

The usual suspects showed up to attend. Ella, Perry the Zorua, other explorers and the administration staff.

"Welcome." Kira said. To those not paying attention, the Fennekin sounded as informed and relaxed as ever, but those who were accustomed to her inflections when genuinely happy could immediately notice that she could not be described that way.

"I will start with the lighter stuff. There has been an update of Temporal Observatory operations. So far, we have been removing one or two TSIs from the sensor tower whenever we needed to bring them on an expedition. It takes upwards of half an hour to even get the sensors out the door, and the stationary network's resolution is reduced when TSIs are missing. Therefore, we have decided to custom build a pair of brand new CD6402 TSIs exclusively for mobile use. They feature carrying straps and integrated wheels and handles for easy transport, and a more convenient power connector for hooking up to either generators or bioelectricity devices."

Leslie came onstage, wheeling in one of the new TSIs. Scattered clapping and exclamations of "great!" and "nice!" echoed around the room.

"With that out of the way, this is why I scheduled this debriefing." Kira advanced the slideshow on the screen, "so far, there have been three temporal attacks on three separate mystery dungeons, four days apart down to the second. Each time, the TSIs have been identically configured, each with that cryptic script whose primary function we have yet to identify. Computer simulations showed that aside from temporal distortions, there should have not been any other effects, but our models, though ever advancing, is far from anything resembling perfection, and it shows."

The slideshow advanced once more.

"we first noticed this when we plotted the three incidents on a map."

Three dots appeared on a map of Grass Continent. Three lines also appeared, forming an equilateral triangle with a dot at each vertex.

"The dots represent the precise location of the discovered TSIs. Yes. It lines up perfectly. Down to the centimeter."

The crowd stayed silent, hanging onto each of Kira's words. Yuri drew a small scale version of the map next to some points from the last meetings.

"Now, this is disturbing enough, but a component enough nutjob could have done this for no reason other than to create a triangle. We then took extremely high resolution temporal scans of the area. None of us could explain this."

The three lines on the slideshow started moving on the screen. They repositioned and resized themselves so that one end of each line was at the dots, and the other ends merged at the center of the former triangle.

"This is the result of the scan."

A color coded diagram was superimposed over the map, the same as what was shown during the TSI hunt that ensued when it was first determined that the distortions were artificial. Concentric circles. A red spot in the middle, followed by orange, yellow, and finally, a green circle whose outermost edge lined up with the three dots.

"These are chroniton activity measurements. Each progressive color code is a difference of one hundred Celebi, not the legendary Pokémon, the unit of measurement named after them. This is unprecedented. For some context, natural fluctuations in chroniton activity are generally in the 1 to 10 Celebi range, and perfectly circular hot spots are exceedingly rare, they're usually elliptical at best. I don't think I need to mention that something is seriously wrong here."

A swell of murmuring rose within the room as guild members whispered to each other about the contents of the diagram.

A gruff voice towards the very back boomed over the chatter. "Are these extreme fluctuations dangerous?"

"Very fortunately, not usually, because there are populated areas in the affected region. They could interfere with Pokémon with natural temporal properties, like Celebi or even Dialga if they happened to be in the area, but we don't expect any life threatening effects. As for what could be causing this phenomenon... this is just a hunch, it seems like something is 'pushing' on the time stream from outside of it, kind of like when you have plastic wrap over a bowl and you press on the center of it. If viewed from the underside of the plastic wrap, it would form a similar convex shape, just with space, not time."

The Pokémon seemed content with the answer and the rest of the crowd fell quiet again.

"After deliberating with both the PSS the guild's council or administrators, it has been decided that there will be an expedition to investigate the anomaly. We will set up a temporary outpost here in Harvest Town..." a dot of a different color appeared inside the circles made by the temporal fluctuations, "Leslie, Ella and myself will be going, and we will be bringing one of the two mobile TSIs. We will need several explorers to assist us, specifically, those that have already been involved in at least one expedition relating to the temporal distortions. If you would like to come, please raise your paws now."

Yuri immediately volunteered, excited to travel somewhere to help out with the investigation. Jennings and several other Pokémon also volunteered, to which Kira nodded gratefully and informed that they will receive an expedition notification shortly.

As the Pokémon filter out of this meeting room, Yuri was approached by Jennings. "Hey Yuri." he greeted.

"Hey! You're going to Harvest Town, right?" Yuri asked Jennings.

"Indeed! I saw from the meeting you're going too. Excited? Scared?"

The Riolu made a very serious expression. "Both," was the only thing to leave his mouth.

"Me too. Part of me wants to get to the bottom of this, while another part really doesn't want to know."

"Exactly! I couldn't have said it better," Yuri agreed.

In a sudden spark of inspiration, he fished through his bag and pulls out his camera.

"Jennings, can I take a picture of you for my notebook? If that's okay with you, of course."

"Of course! Just be sure to get my good side!" he joked.

Yuri laughed, snapping a few photos from different angles. "You're doing amazing dahling," he said, mimicking some actors he's seen on movies. He showed them to the Dragonite afterwards.

"You're a good photographer! You may have missed your true calling!" he joked.

"Actually, I was really into art and photography before deciding my dream was to join a guild." Yuri puts his camera back into the bag. "If this somehow ends up not working out, well..." Yuri shrugged.

"I don't think you have to worry about that. You're doing great on your expeditions!"

Yuri and Jennings's tablets simultaneously chimed. They opened it to see that Kira has scheduled a briefing for the newly formed expedition team.

"Duty calls, I guess," he said to Jennings, "Meet you there?"

"Sure!" Jennings said, " I'll go with you."


	11. Chapter 11: Pocket Monsters

"Kira? Kira!", a voice pierced the darkness.

"Ugh... what... what's going on?", Kira muttered as she struggled to open her eyes. As her eyes rendered the image in front of her, she quickly realized that a Sylveon and a Vulpix were standing over her.

"Leslie? Ella?", Kira asked weakly.

"Yeah. It's us.", Leslie replied solemnly.

"Where are we?", Kira asked. Finally mustering up the strength to look around, she found herself in a small, empty room with gray walls and single lamp overhead.

"One of the storage rooms in the Temporal Observatory. You can thank Barrett for the accommodations.", Ella answered.

"Guess we got caught after all.", Leslie sighed.

"How?", Kira asked.

Leslie shrugged, "Who knows? Maybe he saw when we went to his office? Maybe he has more spies than we realized."

It wasn't long before they heard footsteps approaching the room. The door opened to reveal Barrett accompanying three other Pokemon.

"Good to see you're all awake.", Barret said calmly, "If you're wondering what happened to your researcher friends, they're locked in their quarters. Most don't even know what's going on, neither does the guild."

"How did you find out... How did you bring us here without alerting the guild?!", Leslie began.

It wasn't until then that Kira recognized the Pokemon following Barrett as guild security officers. She also noticed that none of them were wearing their guild badges.

"I have a lot more friends that you assume.", Barret said, "Now come with us!"

The three Pokemon were led through the seemingly deserted research facility to the main lab. As they entered, they saw a black colored Pokemon standing in the middle of the room.

"Ah, the three premier researchers at this facility. It's a pleasure to finally meet you.", the pitch black Pokemon said, "I assume you already know who I am."

"Darkrai!", Kira shouted, "You're responsible for the temporal anomalies! You're the one trying to destroy time!"

"Why are you doing all this?!", Leslie exclaimed.

"Because I'm trying to restore the glory of Pokemon.", Darkrai answered calmly.

"Restore it?", Kira said sarcastically, "You're going to 'restore' the glory of Pokemon by causing temporal decohesion?! The only thing that will accomplish is make the universe much less habitable! The unified time stream will shatter into countless ever changing fragments, and with it so will our civilization!"

"Oh spare us the physics lesson!", Barrett snapped.

"Like mister Barret pointed out, I am aware of the consequences.", Darkrai continued, "Pokemon in this time period have grown complacent, you've forgotten the reason we exist. It is only through battle that we realize our true power, and you've all neglected even that most basic fact of life! You've become stagnant, spoiled by what you call technological advancement, and now you're on the verge of abandoning the one thing that defines us! No! It is my duty to return all Pokemon kind to an age where success in battle is prized above all else, even at the cost of the planet's paralysis!"

"You're going to permanently destabilize the flow of time, causing the planet to become inhospitable. Your goal is to make all Pokemon return to their barbaric ways out of desperation.", Ella said in realization, her voice taking on a grave tone.

"Think about where the name Pokemon came from.", Darkrai said, "It's based on an ancient human word for 'Pocket Monster'. That's what we are, and that's what we are meant to be! Monsters! Monsters who live for the glory of battle!"

"You're not just a monster, you're a psychopath!", Kira exclaimed, "You're going to cause the collapse of time itself, kill billions of Pokemon in the process, just so the survivors will have to resort to savagery?!"

"What you call 'savagery', I say is the way Pokemon were meant to live! Pokemon are bearers of unimaginable strength and power, and what do you do now? Sit in an office typing into tablets? A mere pawn with the vague hope of contributing to something that matters?", Darkrai shouted accusingly.

"You're insane if you think fighting each other endlessly is more productive!", Kira retorted, "Pokemon can still battle if they want to, why force it on all of us?"

"Because most Pokemon will be as slothful as you are! This is the only way to prevent the destruction of everything Pokemon stand for, and it will happen whether you like it or not!"

"I think they get the point.", Barrett interrupted before turning to the former security officers, "Now, escort the researchers to their quarters and see that they stay there."


	12. Chapter 12: Assignment

"Fennekin! Come with us!", one of Barrett's goons commanded as he opened the door to Kira's quarters, where she had been locked in for the past three days, only allowed out for short amounts of time for food and water.

"To where?!", Kira asked in an irritated tone. The fox Pokemon's once flawless yellow and white fur was a mess, the result of being denied access to a fur brush among other creature comforts and her no longer caring to groom herself. She figured that as long as she was being held by Barrett and Darkrai, there was no point in trying to look her best. There were more pressing matters to worry about.

"Darkrai wants to see you.", the Tyranitar replied, growing annoyed.

"Lucky me.", Kira muttered sarcastically as she followed the guard. The Tyranitar led her to the sensor tower, where the entire ordeal had begun.

"Darkrai is waiting for you at the top.", the Tyranitar motioned to the elevator car that was waiting at the base of the tower, "If you try anything funny..."

"I know. You'll kill me.", Kira interrupted as she walked into the elevator. She was surprised when the Tyranitar did not accompany her.

"So you're not going to make sure I don't try anything?"

"I'll be waiting here and Darkrai is up there. You're smart enough, so I'm sure you won't act stupid and heroic.", the guard said dismissively.

Kira shrugged and pressed the door close button. The guard was right. She wouldn't be able to come with a plan in the time it took to reach the sensor array, not without putting herself and her colleagues in grave danger. She couldn't risk it, not when they were perhaps the only ones who even knew about Darkrai's plan, and had the duty to stop it.

The door opened, and Kira was greeted by the pitch black Pokemon.

"Good morning Kira.", Darkrai said calmly, "I am glad you could meet me here."

"What do you want?!", Kira snapped, suddenly feeling a wave of rage. She hated how Darkrai acted been so casually to them while they were here. Kira could tell that he actually believed himself heroic for what he was planning to do, which fueled her hatred for him.

"I've been told you're one of the top researchers at this facility. That's a very impressive for a Pokemon in their twenties, seeing how you must have started your career only a few years ago.", Darkrai complemented, "So, naturally I chose you for this assignment."

"What kind of assignment?", Kira asked, half annoyed and half impatient.

"As you know, I've had to proceed with my plan ahead of schedule. I was going to officially recruit temporal researchers to help me with this, but time constraints, no pun intended, have made that impossible. However, I am fully confident in your skills.", Darkrai explained calmly, as if Kira was her employee at a staff briefing, "I am about to reach the final stage of my project, and I need the temporal interfaces in all of these sensors activated and rid of any hardware and software restrictions imposed by the Pokemon government.", Darkrai motioned to the seven sensors around them, "They need to be able to emit an L-type temporal displacement wave, and then continuously generate bursts of covariant temporal radiation in opposite phases. You're familiar with how to do about that, I'm sure."

"And you think I can reconfigure the emitters to do that?", Kira asked.

"You're more than qualified. I will provide all of the equipment you need to modify the hardware, and a diagnostic tablet for the reprogramming you'll need to do."

"Ha!", Kira shouted both angrily and sarcastically, "How deluded could you possibly be to think I will help you?! Let me make it perfectly clear, Darkrai! It doesn't matter what my qualifications are, as far as you're concerned I might as well be illiterate, because I won't connect a single wire or write a single line of code for you!"

"Of course, the alternative is..."

"Tell your minions to come up here and kill me!", Kira interrupted, the rage in her mind burning brighter as she listened to Darkrai, "I'd rather die than be responsible for destroying time!"

"I believe that.", Darkrai said, "But what if it's not your life you'll be taking?"

"What?!"

"I assume you're very close to your Vulpix accomplice. Disobey me, and you'll be responsible for her death."

"Leslie...", Kira whispered to herself, "If you lunatics do anything to her..."

"You have my word that we won't, as long as you comply. I have no desire to cause any suffering, unless it is for the greater good of all Pokemon."

Kira paused for a long time, her mind furiously going over every possibility, every response she could possibly give. With each fleeting thought, her mind grew more distraught. She imagined seeing Leslie the Vulpix lifeless on ground. It made her physically nauseous. She had no doubt that Darkrai's threat was not empty. She couldn't let that happen, but she couldn't be responsible for temporal decohesion either.

"Give me a schematic of the emitter control circuitry and the equipment.", Kira said weakly. She fought back the tears of rage in her eyes.


	13. Chapter 13: Mistakes

"It's done.", Kira said, dropping the diagnostic device on the ground, "May I please go now?"

"You've truly outdone yourself.", Darkrai said cheerfully as he entered the sensor room, "Go and rest. Your friends are in the mess hall, you can verify that your friends are unharmed."

Kira walked quickly to the mess hall, surprised than no security guards were there to accompany her. She found Leslie and Ella, just as Darkrai had promised.

"Leslie! Are you okay?!", Kira shouted as she entered.

"I'm fine. Although Darkrai did tell us what he said to you.", Leslie said, "Kira... did you... did you actually..."

"Relax. That maniac isn't getting the temporal decohesion he wanted.", Kira said confidently.

"Kira, are you sure?", Ella asked, concerned.

"As soon as he activates the sensor array, all the emitters will blow. It'll look like he messed up his programming, and since no one in their right minds would deliver more temporal sensors here, his plan to use them to destroy time will go up in flames along with the emitters."

"I hope so...", Ella said. Leslie just hugged Kira.

It wasn't until late afternoon when the three researchers were disturbed.

"You three!", Barrett said as he entered the mess hall, "Darkrai wants to see you in the sensor tower! Go!"

Kira, Ella and Leslie complied, walking to the sensor tower and taking the elevator to the sensor room.

"I just wanted to way that Kira did a great job.", Darkrai said. The researchers noticed that two security guards accompanied the mastermind, causing the room to become cramped and making it difficult to move past each other.

"However, no work is perfect.", Darkrai continued, "And unfortunately I noticed a number of errors in your modificatios. Most significant, is your habit of wiring the power supply to the emitters backwards."

Kira's heart plummeted like a rock.

"I must admit it took some checking. I especially liked your creativity in reinstalling individual components backward instead of simply reversing the wires. I must commend your attention to detail, as you even took the time to flip the labels so everything only looked a minute bit out of place. If I hadn't expected you to sabotage something, I would never have noticed."

Darkrai looked at the distraught expressions on the researchers, particularly on Kira and Leslie.

"But, since the mistake was easy to fix, and we have plenty of spare power supplies, I won't hold it against you. Any of you.", Darkrai said as he looked at Kira and Leslie, "However, you will need to clear the area."

Darkrai motioned to the guards, who followed the researchers into the elevator.

Feeling utterly defeated, Kira shot one final, hate filled look at Darkrai, "You won't get away with this."

Truthfully, Kira believed that Darkrai would in fact get away with it. She had failed. She was responsible for whatever happens.


	14. Chapter 14: Temporal Decohesion

"You tried, Kira.", Leslie said as she placed a paw on Kira's back, "I'm alive because of you, and you tried your hardest not let Darkrai succeed."

"I...", Kira began, "Leslie, I just doomed every Pokemon, and only for the possibility that I could protect you. I mean... I'm glad you're alive but... was that the right thing to do?"

"For what it's worth...", Ella commented, "I don't think there's an absolute correct answer to what you should have done."

"I really thought he wouldn't notice my sabotage."

As the researchers exited the elevator, they heard an electrical hum from overhead, followed by a loud explosion. The ground shook violently, causing the guards to loose their footing. Kira immediately took the chance to attack them, using Ember on one and Psybeam on another. Leslie and Ella did the same. They knew that they couldn't defeat them, but they hoped that they could disable the guards enough to escape. Finally, Leslie's confuse ray attack gave them the break they needed, as the disoriented guards began stumbling around, their sense of direction destroyed, if only for a time.

Kira, Leslie and Ella bolted down the hall, running as fast as they could while still maintaining balance on the unstable, shaking ground.

"There! Fire escape!", Kira shouted as they rounded a corner. The researchers clambered into the stairwell, slamming the door behind them with Kira and Leslie using their fire breathing powers to melt the door latch into the frame for good measure. As they tore down the stairs, they began to hear movement at the vary bottom. Several angry voices could be heard as more of Darkrai's goons entered the stair well from the first floor. Kira, Leslie and Ella stopped at the second floor landing. Looking around, they saw the small window on the exterior wall of the landing. Temporal distortions of all shapes and sizes littered the sky around the temporal observatory as the natural light from the sun dimmed rapidly. It was happening again. The same temporal decohesion event that was narrowly avoided.

Kira was the first to jump out of it, shattering the glass by using Tackle. Ella and Leslie followed.

Kira's paws hit the grass, her four thin legs immediately giving out from the force of the impact, causing her to roll onto her side. As she forced herself to stand back up, she saw Ella and Leslie falling after her.

"Leslie watch out!", Kira screamed as a temporal distortion materialized in Leslie's path. Leslie had no time to react before the back of her head slammed into the anomaly. Her body bounced unnaturally sideways, continuing her fall. The Vulpix lost consciousness as she hit the ground.

"Leslie!", Kira shouted as she ran to her. The back of the Vulpix's head was bleeding heavily, with a number of thin, parallel slashes in the skin. Leslie's eyes did not open. Kira took off her scarf and wrapped it around the back of the Vulpix's head, letting her guild badge fall to the ground. She used her paws to put pressure on the makeshift bandage, trying to stop Leslie from bleeding, though she knew that it was the least of the Vulpix's worries. What was more urgent was the dose of temporal radiation that the anomaly had shot into her brain.

"Come on, Leslie! You need to survive this! Fight it! Please fight it!", Kira cried to an unconscious Leslie. Ella embraced the two fox Pokemon with her feelers, a tear starting to form in her eye.

The researchers were interrupted by a Tyranitar approaching them. Kira recognized him as one of Darkrai's minions. He was one of the guards that met them when they were first captured, he was usually the one supervising the researchers when received their food and water rations, he escorted Kira to Darkrai he first gave her the assignment she failed to sabotage, and he had accompanied Darkrai in the sensor tower.

"Haven't you done enough?!", Kira screamed, tears flowing freely from her red eyes, "You've destroyed time! What more do you want?! Are you so much of a monster that you've come to watch her die?!"

"I'm here to help you.", the Tyranitar said quietly. Kira and Ella paused, long enough for him to gently pry Leslie from their embrace. He took care to continuing applying pressure to the scarf that covered the Vulpix's wounds.

"Follow me.", he said as he rounded the corner to the back of the building. There, he led Kira and Ella, still unsure if they can trust him, to a hovercraft parked inconspicuously in the alleyway. Kira saw that it was labeled as a maintenance vehicle.

The Tyranitar unlocked the doors to the hovercraft, and placed Leslie on a seat, "There's a medkit in the front cabinet. Hand it to me."

Kira hesitantly gave him the small plastic box she found in the in the cabinet, after checking that it did indeed contain medical equipment and not a weapon.

"I'll have to take my true form for this.", the Tyranitar said to himself, "Still not completely familiar with using these claws."

"What?!", Kira asked, but soon saw the Tyranitar being surrounded by a a flash of reddish white light. When the light had disappated, the Tyranitar had vanished. Instead, in front of Kira and Ella stood a Zorua, roughly in his mid twenties, the same age as them, instead of the much older looking security guard. The Zorua wore a short grey vest designed for quadrupedal Pokemon. Clipped onto the vest was a badge. Kira and Ella realized that the badge consisted of an emblem of the Pokemon Republic. A badge design that only members of the Pokemon government were allowed to wear.


	15. Chapter 15: Intelligence Outpost

"Who... Who are you?", Kira said, unsure what to think.

"First of all, I have to apologize for my treatment of you... all of you during my mission, but I could not risk blowing my cover."

"Your cover?", Ella asked curiously, "Are you some kind of spy?.

"My name is Perry. I am an intelligence operative for the Pokemon Security Service, and I was assigned with the task of infiltrating Darkrai and Barrett's operation.", the Zorua took out an identification card, which verified his claims.

"I...", Kira began.

"Before we do anything else, we should get out of here before the temporal anomalies spread further. Miss Leslie still needs medical treatment and it won't be long before Darkrai realizes I'm missing.", the Zorua said, "I'm certified as a paramedic as part of my Security Service training, so I will tend to Miss Leslie. Can either of you pilot a hovercraft."

"I can.", Ella said.

"The directions have already been programmed into the flight computer. We need to go to the Security Service office in Treasure Town."

"Hang on...", Kira interrupted, "The Pokemon Security Service has an office in Treasure Town?! I thought you guys are only in the capital city?"

"We have offices everywhere.", Perry said, "We wouldn't be a very good intelligence agency if everyone knew where they are, but in this case it's imperative that you three come with me."

"Well, let's go.", Ella said, climbing into the cockpit.

"I'll help you with Leslie.", Kira said as she entered the cabin of the hovercraft.

The navigation system on the hovercraft directed them to the industrial district at the edge of Treasure Town. They landed outside one of the many factories in the area. Two Chanseys greeted them, carrying medical equipment and a stretcher. As the nurses took Leslie to the infirmary, Perry, Kira and Ella walked toward the lobby of the disguised building.

"Before we go in..", Perry stated, "I am required by law to state that the existence of this facility and everything you find within is..."

"Classified?", Ella interrupted.

"Yes, which means..."

"We won't tell anyone.", Kira said.

"In that case, welcome to Intelligence Outpost 143!", Perry said as he motioned for Kira and Ella to follow.

Though the building looked like a factory of mediocre condition on the outside, and maintained that illusion in the lobby, the rest the interior looked like it was in a completely different location. Though the office was modest in size, with the main room only slightly larger than the main laboratory at the Temporal Observatory, it was pristine. Clean grey walls and a white floor comprised the room, with rows of desks separated by dividers. Pokemon sat in the small divisions, each wearing the same uniform as Perry, typing silently into the touchscreens placed on their desks.

"This way. The security director himself has asked to see you personally."

"Wait...", Kira interrupted, "The security director? So the head of the entire Security Service came from Pokemon Square to Treasure Town just to see us. How long have you planned to bring us here?!"

"He's not here, but we have him patched in on a secure channel.", Perry explained, "We have been waiting for an optimal time to recruit you three for our intelligence operation. According to our intelligence reports, Darkrai hadn't planned to carry out his plan for another five months, so what happened these few days were certainly unexpected. As is me bringing you here today."

"How long have you known..."

"We've been actively investigating Barrett and Darkrai for just over a year now, but we've been receiving bits and pieces about a temporal decohesion conspiracy for nearly three decades. Look, I'm not entirely allowed to tell you about this stuff. It's best to speak to the security director."

Kira and Ella were led into a small conference room with a large screen mounted on the side wall. Perry scanned his badge and then both of his retinas using a lens attached the computer console in the room, and typed a command onto the touchscreen. Seconds later, the face of an elderly Blastoise appeared on the wall-mounted screen.

Perry turned to the screen and saluted the Pokemon. "Security Director, these are temporal researchers Kira the Fennekin and Ella the Sylveon. They were the Pokemon most involved in security incident B-1710F."

"Excellent.", the security director waved, "Kira, Ella, it's nice to meet you."

"Same to you, Security Director.", Kira said nervously.

"Please. Call me Martin. First, allow me to extend my condolences about your college. I'm sure the medical staff at the security outpost you're staying at will do everything they can for her. However, we brought you here because we need your help to reverse the damage that Darkrai has done."

"About that... We need to hurry.", Ella said, "Darkrai has started a temporal decohesion event, and the effects will become permanent in... at most a week."

"And we really do mean permanent, as in not even Dialga can reverse it! In fact he can't even do anything at this point because he lives outside of time and can't enter our dimension if it's temporally decohesive.", Kira added.

"I see.", the Security Director replied.

"So... will we be staying here while we work for you?", Ella asked.

"Yes.", Perry replied, "We have assigned quarters for you, but you will have to share one room. Space is at a premium in this facility."

"So... are we supposed to start helping you come up with a plan?", Kira asked.

"Actually, I just wanted to greet you and make sure you arrived here safely.", the Security Director said, "You two rest for today... well, I guess it's night at Treasure Town now, anyway, you too rest, try to collect your thoughts. My security agents and I will gather intelligence, and tomorrow we'll get your input on how to reverse the damage to the time stream. You two are safe in the outpost. We'll make sure of it."

The communications channel disconnected.

"I'll show you to your quarters.", Perry offered.

"Thanks.", Kira said, "But if it's all the same, you can just show Ella for now. I'd like to check how Leslie's doing."


	16. Chapter 16: Family Emergency

"How... how serious is it?", Kira asked as the Chansey in charge of Leslie greeted her. Kira walked into the room, and saw Leslie. The Vulpix was lying on a hospital bed, unresponsive to the world. The back of her head was wrapped in gause and an oxygen mask covered her nose and mouth. An IV needle was attached to one paw, and wires led to various sensors on her head.

"Miss Leslie... was exposed to very high levels of covariant temporal radiation. She has suffered severe neurological damage.", The Chansey said.

"What's the treatment?"

Just as Kira responded, Ella rounded the corner and met Kira in the corridor.

"What's going on? How's Leslie?", Ella asked.

"Not well.", Kira replied in a worried tone, "I was just asking about treatment options."

"Telepathic neurotherapy is the really the only option. It's when a psychic-type Pokemon uses highly focused telepathy to repair nerve damage.", The Chansey explained, "But even assuming we can find a telepathic neurologist..."

"Assuming? Isn't there a telepathic neurologist at the Treasure Town Hospital? He performed a cognitive assessment on me when I was there!"

"We already tried to contact him.", the nurse said, "He was killed when a temporal anomaly hit his hovercraft, and... You have to understand that telepathic neurology is a brand new field of medicine and requires specific species of phychic-type Pokemon that have undergone extensive training. There aren't a lot of practitioners."

"But... you can find one, right?"

"So far we haven't been able to contact a hospital that has a telepathic neurologist."

"How... How much time does Leslie have?", Kira asked, her voice starting to break.

"Unless we can repair her brain damage, not long. Maybe five or six days at best."

"No...", Kira whispered, "No... No! Please! You can't let her die!", she shouted, tears forming in her eyes.

"Miss Kira. We're doing everything we can."

"There has to be someone who can help her! You have to find someone!", Kira shouted, slumping over the side of Leslie's bed as she burst into tears. Ella rushed over to Kira and placed her feelers on her head in an attempt to comfort her.

"They're going to do all they can, Kira.", Ella said before looking at the Chansey, "Right?"

The Chansey nodded.

Ella led Kira back to the room they had been assigned, gently wrapping her feelers on the Fennekin as they walked. The room has two sets of bunk beds, no doubt it was planned that Leslie would sleep with them. Kira stumbled onto one of the bottom bunks, and covered her eyes as tears streamed from them.

"Kira...", Ella said, sitting on the bed beside her, "I know you and Leslie were close, and I have every confidence she won't leave you."

"I can't lose her!", Kira cried, "I can't lose any more family!"

"Wait... family?", the Sylveon asked, suddenly perplexed.

"Never mind...", Kira muttered.

"Kira, is Leslie your family?"

"I didn't say that!", Kira shouted through her tears.

"Kira..."

The Fennekin sighed, "Leslie... Leslie's not just my best friend. She's my step sister."

"What?", Ella said, "You never mentioned..."

"I know. I didn't want to mention it.", Kira paused, "Ella... I lost my real family when I was five months old. I only have faded memories of them... My parents, two Delphoxes, my older brother and I lived on a farm in the countryside. My brother was a shiny Fennekin with silver fur, and I remember being so jealous of that. I remember wanting to be shiny more than anything. Thinking back, I couldn't believe how naive I was, thinking that having a mutation in whatever genes produce pigment was the most important thing in the world...", Kira forced herself to laugh.

"Kira...", Ella inquired, "How did you lose your family?"

"One day... one day we were out in the fields. My brother and I played while our parents worked, and this team of Pokemon ran up to my parents, and... they demanded to battle them. My parents refused, but out of nowhere those maniacs started attacking! My brother and I were playing tag, and I had ran far into the Chesto berry field. I had to watch them die, Ella! Those psychopaths killed my parents! They killed my brother! I don't even remember what species they were but I do remember how strong they were! A few attacks was all it took. I remember them calmly walking away as soon as they were all dead! I remember running for my life across the field but everything was a blur after that."

"I... I'm sorry...", Ella managed to say, "And... Leslie's family found you?"

"They lived in the town nearby. Leslie found me in the forest near their house. Apparently I had dug a little den for myself, you know, the kind that ancient Fennekins lived in, and I was curled up in it crying my eyes out. She brought me back to her home, her family found out what happened to me, and her parents let me live with them that same day. They raised me as their own, Ella, and not once did they show favoritism between Leslie and I. They rarely even brought up the fact that I was adopted. Leslie became my best friend, and she comforted me through the long mourning process I went though. It's kind of fitting, really. I mean, we're both fox Pokemon and we're both fire types."

"But... why didn't you tell anyone about this?"

"When I first went to school, my classmates used to tease me endlessly about the fact that I was adopted. 'Kira the Orphan' was what they called me. Not very creative but... it really hurt! So when we moved, I decided to just hide the fact that I was adopted. It was actually Leslie's idea, and we decided that we would always introduce each other as simply friends, and... it just kind of stuck! I guess I found it more comforting to keep my past a secret, even now, and Leslie was okay with it."

"Kira... Is this why Darkrai was able to threaten you into modifying the sensors for him?"

Kira nodded weakly.

"This... wouldn't have anything to do with why you hate battling... would it?"

Kira nodded again, "That day, I learned what can happen when a Pokemon battle goes wrong. All the safety regulations in the world couldn't prevent those psychopaths from doing what they did. I just couldn't bring myself to battle after that! It physically disgusts me when I see Pokemon battling as a sport, because in the back of my mind I always remember my family being killed by battle moves! It causes me pain!"

"I understand why you wouldn't want to battle then, and... I can't even imagine the pain you've gone through. The pain that you still go through."

"Ella... what if Leslie dies?!", Kira blurted out.

"Leslie has no intention of dying.", Ella assured, "I'm sure she'll make it through this! And, Kira..."

"What?"

"About being recruited by the Security Service... promise me you'll take it seriously? I'm positive Leslie would want you to be strong. To defeat the Pokemon that did all this to her."

"I know...", Kira said, suddenly growing more confident, "Let's show Darkrai and Barrett that you don't mess with Leslie and get away with it!"


	17. Chapter 17: Briefing

Perry led Kira and Ella into the conference room. Sitting around the table were several Security Service officials, and the Security Director could be seen on the wall-mounted screen. They were surprised to see that joining them were several other guild members, with Jennings the Dragonite and Ezri the Espeon among them.

Only brief pleasantries were exchanged before the security officials prompted everyone to take their seats.

"Before we start, I would like to remind all attending parties that this meeting and the information discussed therein are strictly classified on the authority of the Pokemon Security Service, and will remain so until it has been deemed safe to publicly disclose the details of this incident.", the Security Director began, "Perry, Kira, and Ella, just so we're sure that everyone up to speed about the happenings at the Temporal Observatory, please recount your experiences from the last several days."

Perry began first: "The case designated 'security incident B-1710F-1' occurred when the Treasure Town Temporal Observatory, a result of the joint research operation between the Treasure Town Guild and the Treasure Town Science Academy, discovered a temporal anomaly officially designated as a 'resonant temporal variance'. This discovery was first made by temporal researcher Kira, Fennekin.", Perry motioned toward the Fennekin sitting beside him, "Researcher Kira then went to verify that the discovery was not caused by a malfunction in the primary data source for the observatory, a group of eight CDA6202 active temporal sensors. She discovered that one of the sensors were visibly malfunctioning, and received an electrical shock when she tried to run a standard diagnostic on the sensor. The sensor was removed from the active array in preparation for a full diagnostic to be performed. This information was retrieved from the official report by the researchers involved. The malfunctioning sensor turned out to have been secretly modified by Barret, Greninja under the command of one Darkrai, and was the cause of the temporal variance. Kira, Ella, can you verify?"

"Huh? Yeah. That's the gist of it.", Kira replied.

"Four days later, security incident B-1710F-2 occurred, where researcher Kira and Ezri, Espeon, a senior coordinator at the Treasure Town Guild's outpost in Shaymin Village, discovered the missing sensor being used as a temporal interface in ann electrical substation.", the Zorua continued, "This led to security incident B-1710F-3, where the temporal interface was retrieved from the incident site and was scheduled for delivery via secure courier to the, but was intercepted en route. This was done through generating a temporal distortion to cause the courier freight train to derail. We later learned that either Barrett or a Pokemon working for him had retrieved one of the temporal interface devices, called emitters when used for analytics, from the temporal sensor, and presumably used it to cause both the fright train derailment and the derailment of the passenger hover train in security incident B-1710F-4."

Kira and Ella looked at each other, surprised that the Pokemon Security Service knew so much about their predicament, even though they felt that they should have expected it.

"Finally, the Security Service originally predicted that Darkrai was not planning to proceed with his plans for temporal dechoesion until at least several months later, but through researchers Kira, Ella and Leslie's discovery of Darkrai's conspiracy, he chose to proceed with his endgame immediately. This caught everyone by surprise and the Security Service was not able to prepare for it."

"So what were they trying to do with the temporal interface?", Ezri asked.

"Jennings and I analysed the hacked firmware from the temporal interface you and Kira found in Shaymin Village.", Ella replied, "The best theory I have is that they were trying to condition the timestream for their eventual temporal decohesion event. The sensor was set to emit all sorts covarient temporal radiation, and it seemed to be trying to push the different temporal regions out of sync with each other."

"My guess is that if Darkrai had completed this operation, which would have taken months, the time stream would be permanently decohesive the instant the displacement wave was emitted.", Kira commented, "He probably wanted to stay invisible until the very last minute, to push the parts of his plan that were noticeable to the public as close to the point of no return as possible. I would even hazard to say that the temporal anomalies in Shaymin Village weren't intended, but was the result of incorrectly programming the temporal interface."

"So here's the important question.", the Security Director asked, "How do we undo the damage to the time stream?"

"First and foremost, we need to shut down the sensors in the Temporal Observatory.", Kira explained, "Right now, they're constantly emitting temporal radiation that is pushing the time stream closer and closer to the edge. After that... I truthfully don't know. We would need to analyze the state of time time stream further."

"About the first part, can't we just pull the plug on them? Shut off the electrical service?", Ezri asked.

"The Temporal Observatory stopped drawing power from the electrical grid days ago. It's safe to say that they have a generator and a stockpile of fuel.", Perry said.

"What about trying to destroy the sensors?", Jennings asked.

"Darkrai has turned the sensor array into a general purpose temporal interface... Well, technically I did.", Kira said, looking straight down at the table instead of at the group, "He can create and destroy temporal anomalies at will, and would be able to use that as a weapon. Not only would we not be able to get close with a all-out attack, we would be endangering the researchers who are still being held hostage at the observatory."

"I think our best bet would be a covert attack.", Perry said, "We would need to sneak into the observatory and disable the current operations the sensor array is performing, and ideally we would use the sensor array to reverse the temporal decohesion event."

"Failing all else, we should destroy the sensor array.", Kira added, "That would take away Darkrai's source of power. At least then the temporal decohesion would not progress further and. We can manufacture new temporal interfaces to repair the time stream. At least then we would be able to arrest Darkrai, Barrett and anyone else responsible."

"But we'd better hurry if that's the case.", Ella said, "Even if we shut down the malicious interfaces, the time stream will still inch closer to becoming permanently decohesive."

"Adding to that, the temporal anomalies have appeared globally, and they're causing substantial damage to both property and life. We need to end this as soon as possible!", the Security Director said.

"I mean, the best option would be to subdue the perporators and regain control over the temporal observatory. Then we'd still have the sensor array and can work toward restoring the time stream.", Kira said.

"Then we'd better come up with a plan to retake the Temporal Observatory.", Perry said.


	18. Chapter 18: Nightmare

"And just like that we've enlisted in an espionage mission.", Ella chuckled as she and Kira returned to their quarters, "Did I ever tell you that I loved reading spy stories as a kid? Ten year old Eevee me would have thought this was so cool!"

"I doubt 'ten year old Eevee' you would find the idea of permanent temporal decohesion any more 'cool' that you do now."

"Oh come on, Kira! Didn't you used to play pretend as a kid?"

"Well, I used to 'pretend' that my biological parents didn't get murdered and that I wasn't an outcast at school for being adopted.", Kira said sarcastically.

"Kira... I didn't mean to...", Ella said apologetically.

"It's fine, I was joking.", Kira interrupted, "I guess... Whenever I tell someone about it, it helps to then mention it in more lighthearted contexts. That way I can let it out of my mind without confronting the pain of it. I do this with Leslie too. Look, I know it wasn't funny but I have weird coping mechanisms."

"You've suppressed it for so long, it makes sense that your brain is looking for ways of expressing it that doesn't hurt as much."

"I guess.", Kira said, looking at the ground, "For the record, Leslie and I used to pretend we were scientists on the verge of cracking the next big discovery. It's probably why we both ended up in the Science Academy."

Ella chuckled, "Does the real thing live up to your expectations?"

"Well, there have been more global-scale security incidents than I would have hoped, and I haven't rewritten the textbooks with new theories as much as I would have liked.", Kira laughed slightly.

"Speaking of Leslie, how... how is she?"

"They've gotten in contact with an Espurr at the Science Academy. She was studying telepathic neurology from the Meowstic that performed my cognitive assessment. But she's nineteen and is only a year into her medical training."

"So she's not exactly qualified to treat real Pokemon yet."

"Yeah. But she might be Leslie's only hope. The temporal anomalies have made long-distance transportation useless so even if we did find a qualified telepathic neurologist somewhere else we wouldn't be able to get them here. They say she's very promising and should be able to at least stabilize Leslie's condition until this blows over and we can get someone more qualified.", Kira looked at the ground again, "Look, we have a long day ahead of us, let's just get some sleep."

"All right.", Ella said, "Good night, Kira."

Kira opened her eyes and found herself standing in a stadium. She looked around, and saw that the structure was circular, and seemingly deserted but entirely clean.

"Hello, Kira.", a voice called from behind her. Kira immediately turned around and just as she expected from the sound of the voice, she saw Darkrai.

"You!", she shouted, "Where am I?! What are you doing here?! Where am I doing here?!"

"You're exactly where you were when you fell asleep.", Darkrai said calmly, "This is a dream. One that I have created. Relax, I don't know where you are and I haven't been spying on you. I don't have those abilities."

"So why am I in this dream?!", Kira snapped.

"I wanted to show you something. I know that you and your friends are most likely trying to stop me from reaching my goal, but I want to show you why I'm doing it. Look around you. This is what the ancient humans called a gym. It's a place where Pokemon and their human trainers battled in front of a cheering audience!"

"What's your point?!", Kira said impatiently.

"During the age where humans and Pokemon coexisted, it was in gyms like this where Pokemon realized their true potential! Their true power!", Darkrai said patriotically, "In fact, in the very region that Treasure Town now stands, Fennekins were the very first Pokemon of many humans. Fennekins just like you were given to new Pokemon trainers when they started their journey."

"Good for those Fennekins.", Kira said sarcastically, "But that was what? Thousands of years ago? What does it have to do with me?"

"You are going to experience what it was like."

Kira saw a red and white sphere appear on the opposite side of the gym. The sphere opened as it fell, emitting a red flash. A Bulbasaur appeared, sporting a confident grin.

"Is that supposed to be an opponent?", Kira asked, audibly irritated.

"You are going to battle him. He's a grass type so it should be easy for you."

"No I'm not!", Kira snapped, "I'm not going to knock another Pokemon unconscious for your twisted enjoyment!"

"That 'other Pokemon' isn't real.", Darkrai said impatiently, "He is a figment of your imagination, and if you wish to wake up from this dream you will battle him!"

Kira sighed, "So am I just supposed to attack him?"

"Do whatever you like."

Kira sighed again, took a small step back, and reluctantly used Ember. A fireball shot from her mouth and hit her opponent squarely in the face. The Bulbasaur was knocked back by the attack but was not significantly discouraged, still wearing the smile om his face. He retaliated with Tackle.

The two Pokemon exchanged attacks for a short while, before the Bulbasaur collapsed unconscious on the ground.

"Congratulations, Kira.", Darkrai said, "You've won! How do you feel?"

Kira pondered the question for a second, before taking on an angered expression, "I feel like a psychopath! I just made a Bulbasaur faint for no reason! I haven't battled in years so why do you think this dream will make me start again?"

Darkrai shook his head, "I had hoped that you could reconnect with your inner Pokemon. In some ways you are like your parents."

"What?!", Kira shouted.

"Never mind."

"No. You said something about my parents. How could you possibly know about them?!"

"We had a skirmish.", Darkrai said, dodging the question.

"Darkrai, I swear to Arceus!", Kira screamed.

Darkrai sighed, "They discovered our operation, so I had to prevent them from revealing it to the public, so Barrett and I made a plan to..."

Darkrai was interrupted by Kira's frustrated and rage filled scream as she charged toward her, flames shooting from her mouth as she ran toward the pitch black Pokemon.

Kira's vision went black just as she reached Darkrai. The next thing she knew, she had woken up.

Hyperventilating and frantic, she jumped from her bed on impulse, but lied back down as tears flowed from her eyes.

"Kira? What's going on?", Ella said groggily. She quickly ran to the Fennekin as she realized that she was weeping.

"Kira! What happened?"

"Darkrai murdered my family!", Kira blurted out between sobs.

"What?!"

Kira struggled to tell Ella about her dream, but was eventually able to calm down enough to recount the events coherently.

"Kira... I... I'm sorry.", was all Ella could say.

"All this time I thought whoever killed my family were just a bunch random psychos! I took comfort in the hope that they were brought to justice! But all this time it had been him! Barrett too! I had to answer to him at the temporal observatory! I had to endure his rants at every staff briefing!"

"Kira... It's going to be okay.", Ella said as she placed her paw on the Fennekin's shoulder, "Tomorrow we're going to infiltrate the Temporal Observatory with Perry. We will bring Darkrai and his minions down. You will be the one to avenge your family!"


	19. Chapter 19: Covert Mission

"Here are your illusion generators.", A Pokemon Security Service technician said as he handed Kira and Ella each six small black cubes and a larger rectangular box, "There are six projectors and the control unit. One projector goes on each paw, one on your nose, and one on your tail. Keep the control unit close, the projectors receive power wirelessly from it, but its range is limited. Be careful, they are very fragile."

Kira and Ella placed the projectors on their bodies. The illusion generators were experimental technology, based on the way Zorua and Zoroark can bend light and sound to disguise themselves behind false images.

"Are we ready to do a test run?", Perry asked.

The technician nodded, and typed a command into her tablet. An electrical humming sound could be heard from the projectors attached to Kira and Ella as a reddish white aura surrounded them. Once the light had cleared, Kira and Ella had seemingly switched places. Another red flash gave the researchers the appearance of Zorua, more specifically, Perry, and more flash restored their original forms.

"Alright, everything seems to be working.", Perry said, "I'll summarize the plan one more time. Kira, Ella, when we reach the Temporal Observatory, we'll disguise ourselves as Pokemon that are supposed to be there. You two are inexperienced with coordinating illusions, so I'll control your illusion controllers. You two just act like whatever you're disguised as at that point in time. I imagine we'll have to change our forms at least once. We'll make our way to the sensor tower, pretending to be Darkrai or some other authoritative Pokemon if necessary, and if all goes well, we will deactivate the sensor array. Once we do so, security teams will move in."

Kira and Ella nodded, both dawning confident expressions but their minds remained extremely nervous.

Perry saw through their facade, "Look, I'd be lying if I said this wasn't dangerous. Neither of you have intelligence experience, and if we could manage without you then there's no way we'd put you in this much risk, but we're aren't able to request additional security agents to this location, you two are the only ones here who know how to operate the temporal sensors."

"We know, and we want to help with this.", Kira said, "We're just... kind of terrified."

The supposed maintenance hovercraft landed in the back lot of the Temporal Observatory, through a small slice of airspace that the observatory's security network was unable to monitor due to a design flaw. Perry, Kira and Ella disembarked, with the researchers having already activated their illusion generators and the Zorua dawning a disguise through his natural ability. At a glance, no one could have known that they weren't Darkrai's minions. The lock cracking tool included with Perry's tablet made quick work of the electronic badge reader attached to the door, and the three Pokemon silently entered the building.

Kira could feel her heart pounding as they made their way through the corridor. She had walked these hallways many times during her time in the Temporal Observatory, but now they felt unfamiliar and unwelcoming. The illusion projectors attached to her body was a constant reminder that she was indeed no longer welcome, and seeing that her reflection with the appearance of a completely different Pokemon didn't help. Kira half expected her heart to jump out of her body whenever they heard a sound or rounded a corner.

"Excuse me!", they heard a voice call from behind them. Kira narrowly resisted the instinct to jump in fear. One of Darkrai's real minions approached them.

"Yes?", Perry answered.

"Say, didn't I just see you in the lobby? For a Pokemon your size you sure move fast.", the other Pokemon said, "Anyway, do you know how to get to the mess hall from here? I keep getting lost in this Arceus forsaken nerd building."

"Uh... Take the corridor on the left to the elevator, go the second floor, then take the right corridor.", Kira said.

"Got it!", the Pokemon said as he followed Kira's instructions. Kira held her breath until he was out of sight.

Just before they rounded the final corner leading to the sensor tower, Perry changed himself into Barrett. They approached the Pokemon at the tower entrance.

"Mister Barret?", the security guard asked, "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?!", the disguised Zorua snapped, "Obviously I want to get to the sensor array. I assume there's no one up there."

"No."

"That's 'no, sir'! And is me going up there going to be a problem?!", Perry said lividly.

"No, sir.", the guard said quickly as he pressed the button to call the elevator.

As they boarded the elevator, Kira couldn't help but feel both impressed but uncomfortable at how accurately Perry imitated Barrett. The group dropped their disguises after the elevator doors closed.

"You're good.", Kira complemented Perry.

"Thanks. It's part of the job.", Perry replied.

As soon as the door opened, Kira and Ella got to work. Kira located the computer that controlled the sensor array, and connected her tablet to it.

"Looks like they've enabled a remote management socket. I'll need to bypass it before I can issue a stop command. Ella, could you check the logs to see what they've been doing with the sensor array?"

Ella nodded and retrieved the diagnostic device from her bag.

"All right, I've closed the remote management connection.", Kira said as she typed into het tablet, "Ugh, there's also a command lockout I need to get past, and now that I've shut off the remote management stuff they're bound to realize something's going on up here."

"How long until we have full access to the sensor array?", Perry asked.

"It's hard to say. They've modified a lot of these systems and I need to figure out..."

Kira was interrupted by the sound of the elevator coming to life. The Fennekin's sensitive ears picked up the sound of the motor starting as the elevator car descended.

"Someone's about to come up!", Kira shouted. Perry pulled out his tablet and issued a command to Kira and Ella's illusion generators to activate, before dawning his own disguise.

The motor stopped as the elevator reached the ground floor, before starting again as the elevator ascended.

"Do you think they found out our plan?", Ella asked.

"I don't know.", Perry replied.

"Look, we need to get out of here.", Kira blurted out, "What if it's Barrett coming up here? Then the guard and probably everyone else will already know that Perry took his form. There's a ladder behind the elevator shaft. It's supposed to be a fire escape, and more importantly it leads into a service corridor not connected to the main hallway."

Kira, Ella and Perry opened the small access door to the ladder, all of them traversing it with difficulty due to their quadruped bodies. Silently, they proceeded down the sensor tower and jumped onto the ground floor landing.

As soon as they opened the door leading out of the sensor tower, their hearts stopped. Barrett, the real Barrett, was waiting for them.

The next minutes were a blur. Kira remembered being attacked and apprehended by the security guards accompanying Barrett, before her, Ella and Perry were brought back to the main lab where once again, Darkrai was waiting for them.

"Darkrai!", Kira screamed angrily, "You..."

"If I were you, I'd shut up.", Barrett shouted.

"You three had to be heroes, didn't you?", Barrett continued with visible rage in his eyes, "You couldn't just accept the fact that you escaped with your lives. You had to come back and interfere with our plans. Did you really think I'd fall for your illusions again, Zorua?! Your natural illusions may be hard to discern from real life, but surely you know that the illusion generators those two emitted photonic interference that stick out like a sore thumb! Now, let's see how heroic you really are."

Barrett turned to the guard standing behind him, "Kill them.", he said casually.

"That's enough!", Darkrai interrupted, "We've apprehended them. Once we lock them up they won't be able to interfere anymore."

"What?!", Barrett snapped, "The very act of attempting to impede us warrants their deaths!"

"I don't want to argue this, Barrett."

Barrett narrowed his eyes, "You never learn, do you? You spared her life once and look how she repaid you?!"

"I wish to return Pokemon to the age of battling, but I will not condone murder just to get rid of someone!"

"I am going to make an example out of them! When I announce my claim as the ruler of Pokemon, I plan to display the corpses of these so called researchers as I make my speech!"

Darkrai looked shocked, "Who said you would be a ruler?"

"Oh, I suppose you'd want the position?!", Barrett shouted angrily.

"I'm not doing this to rule the Pokemon world! I want to restore Pokemon to the glory they once held, nothing more!"

"Well, then I'm afraid our interests differ.", Barrett said coldly, "While you were occupying your time with speeches on how Pokemon should go back to fighting each other, which I do respect by the way, I was busy making a proposition to the rest of your minions. The promise of power and protection will sway anyone, Darkrai. I'm surprised you haven't learned that yet."

"This is no time for games!", Darkrai shouted.

"Once the temporal anomaly or whatever these asinine scientists call it becomes permanent, I will assume power as the only one with access to the temporal interfaces that even have the chance of controlling where and how the distortions land, the only one who can make the lives of Pokemon less miserable.", Barrett shouted triumphantly, ignoring Darkrai, "All who obey me will be sheltered from the distortions, and those who defy me, well that's why I need Pokemon to make examples out of. I will become the dictator of Pokemon because if they want to survive, they will have to pay tribute to me! The Pokemon in this world will change, Darkrai, but won't return to the old ways as you had hoped! They'll become my servants, every moment in their lives working to glorify me in hopes that I might spare them from a short life spent in misery!"

Darkrai narrowed his eyes, "You traitor! Traitor to all Pokemon!"

"I may be a traitor.", the Greninja laughed, "But I'm not a fool like the rest of you! You're just as naive as the Fennekin, Darkrai! Your dreams that Pokemon will be free to do nothing but battle each other is just as unachievable as her dreams that Pokemon will live in peace! Now, if you choose to ally with me, you will kill these meddling Pokemon!"

Darkrai stood silently, his rage filled stare fixed on the Greninja.

"Won't do it? No matter.", Barret said as he once again turned to the guard, "You! Prove your loyalty!"

The guard nodded as he approached the captive Pokemon. Just as he prepared his attack, a Dark Pulse knocked him to the side. A second one hit Barrett. Darkrai had attacked his former allies.

"Why, you!", Barrett screamed, but was immediately hit with a Feint Attack.

"Go!", Darkrai shouted, pointing to the exit. Kira, Ella and Perry bolted out of the lab and made for the exit


	20. Chapter 20: Reparation

"Forty nine hours.", Ella sighed as she broke the news to the conference room, "I've compared our calculations with what the temporal researchers at the Lively Town expedition society have come up with. We all agree. We have less than forty nine hours before the time stream becomes permanently corrupted."

"Does anyone else have any other ideas? You know, about how we can prevent this?", Ezri asked.

"We can't use illusion generators, we won't be able to overpower the temporal interfaces, our only chance is to turn them off but Barrett sure won't make that easy, I'd say it's looking pretty hopeless.", Kira said, her head buried between her paws and the table.

"Everyone!", Perry ran into the conference room, "I've just received a text-only communique from someone who might be able to help!"

"Who?", Ella asked.

"He says he's an insider in Barrett's operation who claims there might be a way to counteract the temporal decohesion without needing to shut down the sensor array first."

Kira raised her head, "So where is he?"

"He's agreed to talk to the Security Service through an anonymous communications channel, which will be redirected here. I'm not sure if what he is claiming can be done, but I'll defer judgement of that to Kira and Ella. One of you will have to go with me to see him."

Kira jumped from her chair, "Got it, let's go!"

"Kira...", Ella interjected, "I can do it if you want."

"No, it's fine."

"Are you sure?", Ella responded, "I know that this whole thing has been stirring up some pretty negative memories for you."

"Look, Ella, that's the reason I don't want to just sit here. I'd rather be doing something, anything that might help put an end to this."

"In that case, I can come with you if you want, maybe provide moral support and a second opinion?"

"Sure."

Perry directed Kira and Ella to what he called a secure communications room. The small cube of a room had black, featureless walls which blocked both external sound and light, no doubt to make it as difficult as possible for anyone on the other side of a video chat to determine the location of the room. A screen was attached to one of the walls, with a camera just above it.

Perry signed into the computer terminal, and have the Security Service dispatcher the go-ahead for the connection to be patched through.

Kira and Ella watched the screen, which initially showed a test pattern as a communication channel was established, connecting first to the Security Service headquarters in Pokemon Square before being rerouted to the mysterious caller through his own proxy.

The screen went black, before an image appeared. Darkrai.

"Hello, Kira, Ella...", Darkrai began.

"Darkrai! This is your sick joke?!", Kira exploded, "Is destroying time not enough for you that you need to drive the point that we can't stop it home?!"

"I'm trying to help you!", Darkrai retorted.

"Am I supposed to believe that from a sick, psychotic, time destroying murderer?!"

Ella placed her paw on the Fennekin, "Kira, let's at least hear him out. He did save us from Barrett."

"Fine.", Kira grumbled.

"As you know, I programmed the temporal interfaces that caused the temporal decoherence. Upon closer inspection, I discovered a way to counteract the damage to the time stream and nullify any further damage caused by the temporal interfaces that are now under Barrett's control."

"Look, why are you helping us?", Kira asked skeptically, "You did all this! Did your conscience finally catch up to you?"

"I just don't want Barrett to enslave the Pokemon race! Can you at least agree with that.", Darkrai snapped.

"Yes! We can!", Ella said, not giving Kira a chance to respond, "Now, how do we stop the temporal decohesion event?"

"It involves the use of another temporal interface. Send me your location and I'll assist you in setting..."

"No.", Kira snapped, "Just send us the procedure and we'll take care of it."

"If you want to succeed you will all me to meet with you. You won't be able to implement it in time if you work alone."

"You mean if we feel like dying we should do that!", Kira screamed, "I know what you're planning, Darkrai! You regret not murdering me along with my family, and since I'm with the only few Pokemon with a chance of stopping you, you figured you might as well take all of us out in one shot!"

"Kira, calm down.", Perry said.

"Can't you see what's going on?", Kira snapped at Perry, "Do you really think he has any intention of helping us?"

Kira turned and stormed out of the communications room, the camera cutting out as Kira slammed her paw on the exit button, only coming back online when the door closed.

"Kira...", Ella said as she caught up with her.

"What?!", Kira snapped.

"I know you don't like Darkrai, I don't either, but..."

"Don't like her?! He murdered my family! Look at Leslie! He's the reason she's barely clinging onto life!"

"I know... but he might be our last chance!"

"You believe him?! You think he really wants to help us?"

"Look, I'm not saying his intentions are good, but I'm sure he doesn't want Barrett to succeed as much as we do! Kira, you know we're desperate, right? If there's any chance that he can at even give us a grace period where the time stream isn't falling apart..."

"You and Perry agreed to let him here, didn't you?"

Ella sighed, "Yes. Yes we did, but the Security Service promised that they will make completely sure he won't do anything funny."

"Just... just keep him away from me.", Kira said, staring at the ground.


	21. Chapter 21: Code Review

"What could possibly make you think I want to see him?!", Kira said defensively.

"Kira, we know you don't want to, but we need someone to verify Darkrai's programming.", Ella said, "You've always been the best at working with the sensors."

Kira sighed as she stood up, "Fine, let's get this over with."

Kira followed Ella and Perry until she came face to face with Darkrai.

"Kira, it's an honor to...", Darkrai began.

"Shut up and let me see your code.", Kira snapped as she walked toward the computer terminal.

"Well, now that we're done with the pleasantries, would you like me to explain the plan?", Darkrai said.

"Sure."

"I presume there's still a temporal sensor at the guild building?"

"Probably."

"Good. We'll need it. We'll reconfigure it into a temporal interface just like last time, and we'll need to run this script on it.", Darkrai pointed to the monitor.

Kira scrolled through the tall column of machine code, "You want to isolate the time stream around the Temporal Observatory and send an inverse displacement wave through it? Basically you're trying to disable Barrett's temporal interfaces?"

"Just long enough that he will no longer be a threat."

"I mean, if, and this is a huge if, we time the inverse displacement wave to hit the sensors at the exact same time their emission of temporal radiation changes phase, and calibrate it well enough to match the exact phase constant of the temporal radiation that Barrett is generating, then it should work."

"Seems simple enough. We'd still should be able to get close to the temporal observatory through the same blind spot in the security system as last time.", Ella commented from behind Kira.

"There are still a few details to work out in the machine code, so I need one of the temporal researchers to assist me."

Kira looked at Ella.

"Kira, you're the expert on that kind of low-level sensor programming. I mean, if you don't want to do it, I can but I really think...", Ella began.

"I'll take care of it.", Kira finally said.

Ella patted Kira's back with her feeler, "Thanks, Kira. I owe you one."

"Ella, Darkrai has told the Security Service what exactly how he temporal sensors to cause temporal decohesion, why don't you help with determining how to reverse it? We'll have the room Darkrai is in under surveillance and post guards outside.", Perry said.

Ella looked at Kira, "Will you be okay by yourself?"

"Hopefully.", Kira replied.

Ella nodded and followed Perry out of the room, leaving Kira with Darkrai.

Kira rested her head on her left paw while using her right paw to scroll through the script that Darkrai had provided.

"I mean, everything you wrote here checks out.", Kira said.

"I'm glad you think so.", Darkrai said.

"Judging by the harmonics your displacement wave, we could also intersect a dark energy wave with the temporal displacement wave. That would cause a persistent temporal resonance with the same properties and we wouldn't have to worry about timing the wave with when Barrett's temporal interfaces phase shift. Granted, it would cause an explosion and billions of temporal distortions in a forty something meter radius, but..."

"Do we have something that generates dark energy?", Darkrai asked.

"I was just thinking out loud. No, we don't, not readily. Dark-type Pokemon moves rely on dark energy but none of them have a forty meter range... wait, is there one?"

"No.", Darkrai replied.

"So that's out of the question since we'd kill the dark-type Pokemon emitting the wave."

"That's not acceptable, I'm sure."

"Darkrai, tell me this.", Kira said suddenly, "Why did you insist on coming here?"

Darkrai sighed, "I already told you. Because I feared that you wouldn't be able to carry out the plan in time, or otherwise fail without me."

Kira scoffed, "So you're actually worried that the temporal decohesion, which you caused, would become permanent?"

"I realized that if it did, the Pokemon world would be left at that Greninja's mercy."

"As opposed to yours?", Kira asked without looking up from the computer.

"I'm not sure if you can understand this, Fennekin, but I wasn't planning on becoming the ruler of Pokemon! I simply wanted to encourage all Pokemon to return to and remain in the gloried days where Pokemon lived for the battle!", Darkrai said defensively, "Can you understand that I, who wishes for a world where each Pokemon wields their true power in battle, would want to prevent a tyrant from controlling the lives of Pokemon just as much as you?"

"I... I suppose."

"Then will you cooperate with me just this once, if for nothing else but to stop Barrett?!"

"Darkrai... I want the truth about this next thing."

"What?"

"Why did you kill my family? What really happened?"

"Are you sure you want me to talk about this?"

Kira thought for a moment before speaking: "Yes."

"Your father, Kira, wasn't just a farmer. He never told you because he probably wasn't allowed to, but he was employed by the Pokemon Security Service. At the time, Barrett, some of our recruits and I had set up a base of operations near your farming village, where we performed the preliminary planning for the temporal decohesion event. Your father was tasked to track us down. He got darn close too, almost uncovered our entire scheme. We knew that if we got rid of him, it would slow down the Security Service's efforts. I had commanded Barrett and his team to only take out your father, but at the last second he muttered something about how your entire family knew too much, and he didn't stop after your father was dead. It was difficult to convince him not to go after you, telling him that you were far too young to know anything."

Kira sighed and shuddered, once again fighting back tears. She had wished for closure about her family all her life, but hearing Darkrai explain why her family was dead, why she had to be adopted, why her entire life progressed the way it did, caused a flood of emotions that she had so carefully suppressed for so many years. She felt dizzy, as if she was about to faint.

"Kira?", Darkrai asked after a minute of silence.

"So my family is dead because it suited you?", Kira said with a shaky voice, burying her head in her paws.

"For what it's worth, it was not an easy decision for me to make. Even before the days of the it being enforced by the law Pokemon had an unspoken rule that ending your opponent's life in battle was not acceptable outside of hunting for food. I have always followed that rule, and I took no pleasure in your family's death."

Kira shook herself from her daze, "Darkrai... you know that I despise you for what you did... but thanks for telling me the truth... the truth about what happened."

"I know you'll find little comfort in this, but I want you to know that I have never rested easy after what I did. You were correct when you addressed me during the video conference. Another reason that I am helping you is... indeed because my conscience has caught up with me."

"Really?"

"After defeating Barrett and leaving the Temporal Observatory, I began to think about the freedom of individual Pokemon. I realized that I cannot free Pokemon from their stagnant lives by forcing a new lifestyle of battling upon them. If I do, I am no better than a a tyrant like Barrett."

"I'm glad you finally realized that."

"It is still my wish that Pokemon never abandon the art of battling, but each Pokemon have the right to choose whether they adopt that art."

"Darkrai, you are right about one thing. Pokemon are powerful creatures, and that power is underutilized if a Pokemon doesn't battle, but that doesn't mean it'll always be that way. Pokemon innovate. We'll find other uses for our abilities."

"I hope so. I hope you'll get the chance to."

"We will if we finish programming this thing."


	22. Chapter 22: The Countdown

"Five hours, eleven minutes!", Ella said as the group met in the lobby of the intelligence outpost, "That's how long we have left if we don't stop Barrett's temporal interfaces!"

"Well, we're ready, aren't we?", Kira said, "Let's just go!"

"Darkrai, Kira, you two are with me!", Perry said as he ran toward the hovercraft, "I'll drop you off at the location where Darkrai said we'll best be able to evade detection!"

Kira and Darkrai boarded the hovercraft, with the modified temporal interface already in tow. Perry wasted no time in taking off toward the temporal observatory. Temporal distortions littered the sky, forcing Perry to carefully pilot around them while following the flight path that would place them in the blind spot of the Temporal Observatory's security network.

Once they had reached the drop point, Kira and Darkrai jumped off, Perry helped them unload the temporal interface and a small generator to power it.

"I just got confirmation, ground and air troops are standing by. They'll move in as soon as you two disable the sensor array!", Perry said before retreating back into the hovercraft and taking off.

Kira connected her tablet through a diagnostic device to the sensor and entered a command, "I'm using the sensor to detect when and how often the phase shift occurs. Then the computer will predict when the next one will happen and displacement wave will fire automatically! There should be a regular pattern!"

The ringing of an alarm from the Temporal Observatory caused Kira's heart to skip a beat. Looking around, she realized that Perry, in order to avoid a temporal distortion, had veered the hovercraft to the left, accidentally leaving the blind spot and making himself visible to the security system. Perry flew off, narrowly avoiding the new temporal distortions that were deliberately created in his way.

"We don't have long! They know we're here!", Kira shouted as she typed into her tablet, "Wait... what the..."

"What?", Darkrai asked.

"Barrett just started randomizing the phase change intervals! We won't be able to predict the next one!"

"Then just start firing displacement waves constantly!"

"It would take way too many attempts to guess the right interval, and if the wave is even off by a microsecond it won't work!"

Kira and Darkrai saw movement in the building, before a team of Pokemon rushed out toward them.

"Give me the tablet! I know a shielding pattern that will keep Barrett's goons out and prevent him from attacking us with his sensors!"

Kira tossed the tablet toward Darkrai, who immediately began typing furiously into it. Soon, a dome of distorted air appeared around them.

"What do we do now?!", Kira shouted.

"Didn't you say something about how using a dark matter wave with the temporal wave can disable Barrett's sensors regardless of timing?"

"Yeah, but..."

"What kind? Will a Pokemon move like Dark Pulse work?"

"You aren't serious! You're going to try and..."

"Will it work?!"

"I think so, but it will create an explosion and a bunch of new temporal distortions! You'll be ripped to shreds!"

"Kira, once I drop the barrier, run for your life! Get out of range of the after affects!"

"Darkrai! You'll die!"

"It's a small price to pay in order to undo the harm I have done!"

"Darkrai!"

"Kira, remember what I said about the power of Pokemon?"

"Yeah?"

"Let me use my power to its full potential, and help to undo the harm I've caused."

Kira paused, "Darkrai..."

"Yes?"

"I... I'll be blunt. I don't condone your plan to force all Pokemon to battle, and I don't think I can forgive you, not completely, but... somehow, for some reason, I kind of understand your point."

"Just... remember me.", Darkrai said.

"I will, and thank you for what you're about to do.", Kira said, fighting back a tear. She had never expected to shed tears for the Pokemon in front of her.

"All right, I'm dropping the shield. In three... two... one!"

Kira from the Temporal Observatory. She ran as hard as she could, as hard as she did when Barrett killed her family twenty five years ago. Behind her, an explosion sounded and the shock wave reached her a moment later, knocking her forward. She didn't look back. She just kept running as the troops of Pokemon ran toward the Temporal Observatory, with hovercrafts flying overhead. The police force and agents from the Pokemon Security Service stormed Barrett's lair. His temporal interfaces, the devices that have him his power, have been nullified, but only for so long.

As Kira ran, she wasn't sure if she would ever return to the Temporal Observatory. She knew for certain, however, that she wasn't going to return today. She didn't want to see the remains of Darkrai or any other Pokemon, and the other temporal researchers can restore the time stream without her.

Kira ran toward the intelligence outpost. Soon, only one Pokemon occupied her mind. Leslie.


	23. Chapter 23: Reviver Seed

"I've found the nerve fault... attempting to correct...", the Espurr said as she placed her paws on Leslie's head, a psychic energy collector clipped to the medical student's ear and connected to her medical tablet.

Kira and the nurses watched intently as the Espurr conducted the operation of correcting the Vulpix's brain damage. The Espurr's eyes glowed a bright greenish indigo, and so did the electronic devices she was pressing onto Leslie's head.

"And... I think that should do it! Granted, you'll definitely want a certified telepathic neurologist to fix the long-term problems, but she's out of danger for the time being.", the Espurr announced after several minutes.

"When will Leslie be conscious?", Kira asked.

"Right now!", the Espurr as she took a reviver seed from her med kit and handed it to the Fennekin, "Would you like to do the honors?"

Kira took the reviver seed and gently placed it in Leslie's paw. The seed began to glow a bright gold, which grew in intensity before culminating in a bright flash. A moment later, Leslie's eyes groggily opened.

"Kira?", Leslie asked, "What's going on?"

"It's a long story...", Kira said, "How are you feeling?"

"I feel... I feel kind of dizzy actually."

"That's normal.", the Espurr commented.

"You narrowly avoided irreversible brain damage.", Kira said, the next thing she knew, she collapsed by the side of the bed as she embraced her step sister, tears flowing from her eyes, "Leslie, I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Wait... Darkrai...", Leslie suddenly said.

"We took care of that.", Kira said, "Ella has a team repairing the time stream as we speak. You won't believe who ended up helping us!"

As if on cue, Kira's tablet rang.

"Hey Kira!", Ella said through the tablet as soon as Kira answered the call.

"How's the time stream restoration going?", Kira asked.

"We're making progress!", Ella said, "How's Leslie?"

Kira pointed her tablet camera over to the hospital bed, allowing the Vulpix to show up in the frame, who simply waved as her smile grew.

"So is it safe to say that we'll restore the time stream before any permanent damage will be done?"

"About that...", Ella said, suddenly growing uneasy, "So there already a small amount of permanent time stream damage, it shouldn't be too serious, but it's enough that we'll probably be seeing a temporal distortion or two every year."

"Is there anything we can do to mitigate it?", Leslie asked as she struggled to sit up.

"Best thing to do now would be to correct any temporal variances as they pop up in the time stream, which we'll need to do with a temporal interface. This will probably render any temporal distortions mostly harmless as long as we keep up with the corrections, so I'm thinking of making a proposal to the Pokemon government, see if they'll actually let us keep the sensor modifications online to correct temporal anomalies in real... well, time."

"Most important thing, is the time stream still stable with the permanent damage it's sustained?", Kira asked.

"Pretty sure it is. Time isn't about to become decohesive again by itself once we restore it. Any corrections after will just be to improve... well I guess you can call it the quality of the time stream."

"Well, at least that's good news.", Leslie commented, "So what about Barrett and Darkrai? What happened to them?"

"Darkrai is dead, and last I heard Barrett is facing charges ranging from unlawful use of restricted technology to murder to global-scale terrorism and crimes against Pokemon. He's pretty much guaranteed to stay locked up for the rest of his life.", Kira explained, "And... Leslie..."

"What?"

"I found out what happened to my biological family..."

Leslie's eyes widened with concern, "What happened?"

Kira sighed, "Again, it's a long story, but... here goes..."


	24. Chapter 24: The Future is Now!

A chime rang through the small, cramped room.

Kira awoke to the alarm tone on her tablet. She groggily sat up, one paw reaching over to her digital companion and the other rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Donning her scarf, badge and work bag, she walked out of her quarters.

"Good morning, Kira!", a Vulpix said cheerfully as the Fennekin entered the mess hall.

"Leslie?", Kira said, instantly perking up, "You're back a day early!"

Leslie smiled, "Surprise! The neurologist says my brain recovered faster than expected, so I was discharged from the hospital ahead of schedule!"

"That's great!", Kira said as she ran to the table where Leslie and Ella, "Oh, and congratulations on your promotion, head of research!", she said as she gestured toward Ella.

"Thanks, Kira.", the Sylveon said.

"Just promise not to host early morning meetings?"

Ella laughed, "If I ever do, I'll make sure to exempt you from the required attendants list."

"And before I forget...", Kira said as she reached into her bag, "Leslie, I bought something for you! It was just delivered, so it was good timing that you came back, too!"

Kira retrieved a flat plastic box. Behind the transparent lid and tamper evident seal, a TM disc could be seen.

"Thanks, Kira!", Leslie said as she excitedly as Kira handed her the gift, "Let's see, 'Precision Fire'? Cool! I read a news report about this!"

"Yeah, it's the newest Pokemon move they developed, and one of the first non-battle ones! It lets fire-type Pokemon control the transfer of thermal energy extremely precisely, as precise as a computer controlled heater!"

Ella laughed, "Why did I suspect you had bought one of those? I assume already bought one for yourself?"

"I couldn't hit the buy button fast enough when I saw that it was in stock!", Kira chuckled, "And yes, I've already learned it and it's awesome!"

"Care for a demonstration?", Ella asked.

Kira picked up the Chesto berry in front of her, and breathed a steady, needle-thin flame from her mouth at the stem. The flame spread out ever so slightly as it made contact, burning off the stem at its base but leaving the fruit itself entirely unaffected.

"It's great for soldering together wires or electronics in the lab!", Kira announced cheerfully, "Leslie, I know you'll love it for engineering work!"

"So they're finally making non-battle TMs! Kira, I assume this is your dream come true!"

"Definitely! In my opinion this is one of the few useful moves! Apparently they have Precision Electricity and Precision Psychic in the way too!"

"I guess I'll wait for Precision Fairy, whenever that'll come out.", Ella joked.

"With the amount of buyers Precision Fire got on its launch day, and how many pre-orders there already are for the rest of the Precision series, I wouldn't be surprised if they'll be making a Precision TM for every single Pokemon type!"

"Well, looks like Pokemon will be able to unleash their power in ways other than battling after all!", Leslie announced excitedly.

"It's kind of like Pokemon power is evolving from knocking each other out to much more controlled activities, things that are more compatible with modern life.", Ella commented.

"I'd say moves like these are the best balance between wielding our natural abilities and going about a more modern lifestyle."

Kira smiled, "I really can't say if Darkrai would be proud, but... I hope so!"


End file.
